Introduction to Sustainable Landscape Design

What are our outdoor experiences like? How can we design and interact with the world in a safe, inviting, and inclusive way? Sustainable landscapes use an ecosystem approach to design, strengthening the connections between us, our physical place, and the living systems surrounding us. Using our campus landscape as our laboratory, in this studio course we will engage in outdoor explorations, discussions, and readings. We will also conduct projects that explore concepts in landscape design, including site analysis, resource inputs, functional considerations, and design principles for creating sustainable landscapes. Sources to include Planting in a Post Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West, Landscape Graphics by Grant Reid, and Integrated Landscaping-Following Nature’s Lead by Lauren Chase-Rowell et. al.