Home Architecture Talk
I am deciding weather to study landscape design or landscape architecture- pros & cons of each?
Specifically what potential income? What work loads? Employment options? Study weight?
Public Comments
- An architect will be more design/specification oriented and will likely do little hands-on work. The designer will probably do more physical labor on a project. Architects are more likely to make a better salary and the study load will be heavier. Don't know what they make, salary-wise.
- Go on line to the Occupational Outlook Handbook. There you can compare the two and look for potential income and job outlook. I personally think landscape design is a cool profession because I love being outdoors and gardening.
- I am a landscape architect. I can call myself a Landscape Architect because I went to school for it (5 year program) and have passed the licensure exam, which I was eligible to sit for after practicing for 18 months. In the five years of school for landscape architecture (LA) (and each school tailors their program a little different) you'll study: graphics, planting design, aspects of stormwater management and grading, landscape construction, irrigation, and plant identification. My personal studies also included botany, horticulture, history of art and design, garden design, parks and rec, large scale planning, urban planning, and so on. It's a WIDE ranging program and you are exposed to art and science everyday, which I loved. You're real education, as with many fields, begins once you start working though. It's a pretty tough 5 years - you will have a LOT of studio time, studio classes typically go 4 hours a day a couple times a week and I don't know anyone who didn't spend at least one night in studio, usually more than that. Landscape architects can get jobs in any number of speciality fields including golf course design, residential design, irrigation design, commerical, planning, and probably a ton more I can't think of. LA is a growing field, the demand right now is great and I haven't seen a slow down in my 8 years of practice. Check out www.asla.org, i think that have info. on pay scales. If you choose to go into either field, learn Autocad. Start as soon as you can and do as many projects in it as you can. That's an invaluable tool that employers look for (for LA's anyway.) Good luck!
