WELCOME...
Thank you for your interest in the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. It is an exciting time to be a Landscape Architect and an exciting time to be in our Department. If you are ready to apply, please go directly to our online application site by clicking on the appropriate program: BLA or MLA. If you want to know more first, please continue to read.

The Department of Landscape Architecture offers two professional degree programs:

Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) undergraduate program
Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) graduate program.

Both degrees are fully accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

The BLA is a five-year program focusing on liberal arts, a traditional core of codified design knowledge and traditional project types. The MLA is a three-year program emphasizing the connection between design and research, and focusing on environmental issues, emerging design subject areas, and projects typically new to the profession. In addition, opportunities for foreign study are available through the Department, and through the College of Built Environments for both degree programs..

You should find everything in this section of our web site you'll need to apply to either our BLA or MLA Program. Please do look over the various pages of the web site. We have a lot up here because we want to offer as much information as possible. Also take a look at the various sites listed under What is Landscape Architecture. If after searching our site you should require further assistance, please contact the Department at cauplarc@u.washington.edu

Landscape Architects synthesize knowledge from the natural and social sciences, and from the arts, to design how our environment looks, functions, and feels. We design for people, for plants and animals, and to support natural processes and to conserve natural resources. We design at all scales, from residential to community, to regional and even national areas in size. This is a lot and requires a broad set of skills and deep knowledge. Our program gives you a framework to learn, knowing that being a landscape architect is a lifelong pursuit.

In our Department, we focus on a particular area of Landscape Architecture we call Urban Ecological Design in addition to offering four areas of focus. You will find all of these described under the Program description.

Seattle offers a unique place to practice Landscape Architecture with an outstanding professional community. The city is in the process of making critical decisions about the design and organization in particular about transportation and quality of life issues. Our department students, graduates and faculty, equipped with skills in urban ecological design, are already making meaningful contributions to the future of the city and to efforts to position Seattle on the map as a leader in sustainability. We look forward to discussing your interests and visions of what you might do as a landscape architect.

We invite you to learn more about our profession. Review the magazine, Landscape Architecture, or the scholarly periodical, Landscape Journal; talk to landscape architects in agencies and offices and read a few of the books on landscape architecture from our suggested reading list. Ask questions and plan your future. Help us design a better tomorrow. We look forward to hearing from you.