Master of Landscape Architecture - Three-Year Program

The three-year Master of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) is designed to train students from a wide variety of undergraduate backgrounds and previous careers to authentically employ ecological principles in the design of sustainable landscapes. Aesthetic theory, cultural engagement, ecological function and environmental justice all figure prominently in the curriculum. Being part of SEAS, our program also provides many unique and enriching opportunities for interaction and collaboration with faculty and students specializing in conservation biology, aquatic and terrestrial ecology, industrial ecology, environmental engineering, environmental justice, environmental psychology, environmental policy and environmental economics. Challenge Yourself: To help designers bring new knowledge, technologies and policy frameworks into their work, our curriculum is based on the practice of thoughtful discourse. It teaches you to reexamine the comfort of old conventions, theories, and methods and to take on new questions that have yet to be answered. Our students learn how to look carefully at the landscape and its context, and to analyze its ecological and cultural dynamics. They learn how to utilize design precedent, academic research, and collaboration in the development of place. Studio experience prepares you to imagine and construct landscapes that seem entirely new and, at the same time, protect irreplaceable aspects of landscape function and history. You will learn how to visualize your ideas graphically, so that they can be evaluated, reworked and ultimately made better through a deeply informed iterative design process. We also examine how design can respect communities by having students work in the field to experience urban and rural landscapes that pose a range of challenges. Many of our students take advantage of opportunities to learn from faculty working around the world, and to travel abroad to draw upon landscape design around the globe.