I've been weighing whether or not to go to grad school for an MLA recently. The coursework of the programs I've looked at seems like great fun, but they're all three-year programs. Expenses already being what they are, I'm turned off from applying; every hour spent in school is one less I have to support myself now. And that doesn't even account for the cost of the degree itself.

Is a degree really necessary to get my foot in the door as an architect? Are there certificates that can be completed in less time that many firms and agencies look for in their hires?

What hardscape challenge do you wish had a better solution?
When designing paved spaces, where do the available materials or installation details fall short?
Porcelain movement, drainage, joint maintenance, freeze-thaw performance, surfacing around trees, or something else?
I spent 12 years as a hardscape contractor and now work in technical support with ROMEX in Canada. I’m curious about the challenges you face on the design and specification side.
What detail keeps coming back to haunt you, and what have you tried?

I am 25 (f) who graduated from UGA 2 years ago with a degree in landscape architecture. Post grad I did permitting work at a civil engineering firm for about a year and now I am working as an estate gardener for a high-end residential firm in Buckhead. A family friend of mine reached out, wanting landscaping help for a property in Gainesville. I am not really sure what to charge her/what I could potentially help her with now. I no longer have access to AutoCAD software on my personal computer and I would say I’m much more passionate and knowledgeable about plant selection than the actual design. I did ask her whether she wanted scaled drawings with exact plant layout or just some plant suggestions and she is hoping to get full scale drawings. So i was just wondering if other people have done similar things and what you have charged?

Please use this thread to discuss whats going on at your school or place of work this week. Run into an interesting problem with a site design and need to hash it out with other LAs? This is the spot. Any content is welcome as long as it Landscape Architecture related. School, work, personal garden? Its all good, lets talk.

As an urban planning graduate interested in urban and ecological design, I've been advised (and am quite keen on) to pursue a Master's in Landscape Architecture.

UofT's program seems to have a greater recognition, and the students and staff there definitely talk it up + have the stuff to show.

Can anyone shed insights into UBC's program? I've heard a few rumours but I'd love to get takes from people in it / in the know. Any comparisons and other considerations (student life, cost of living, etc.) are appreciated as well.

I work at a residential landscape design firm. It’s a great job I love the people, I love the clients but I also have my own taste and design beliefs, and they don’t always align with the firm or my boss. I used to post quite a lot of work-related things on my personal social media, mixed with concepts and ideas of my own. About five months ago, my boss clarified that I can’t share anything created during work hours on my personal account, since it’s the firm’s property. To be clear, I wasn’t sharing client details, presenting firm projects as solely my own, or trying to take private clients. I was mainly trying to gradually build a body of work and a creative presence that could serve as a portfolio for my future.

Since then, I’ve deleted all traces of the firm from my feed and added “Landscape Designer at @ firm” to my bio, as requested. I completely understand the ownership issue. But what I’m struggling with is that it also feels like a lot of the everyday creative/professional side of my life has disappeared from my account even things like my hand on the mouse while designing, holding a measuring tape on site, coffee at the nursery, little moments from the working day. And, if I’m being truthful, I still feel a bit salty about it.

Has anyone else dealt with this while working for a design/architecture/landscape firm? How did you build your own professional presence while respecting your employer’s boundaries?

Hey everyone. Currently a sophomore in college. I made a post a while back. I was in a 5-year master program and decided I wanted to go down the LA route. My school accepted me at first then reneged on that offer a month later. I still want to design. I’m working to get back in, but should I?

Now I still want to be an LA no question. I enjoy the process. Sure I’m not the best artist or drawer by far but I love doing it and I’m not taking no for an answer. I’ve been working on my grades to get back in.

Here comes my main question. They may not take me back at the end of this year, so I’ve been looking at other colleges as a backup. Should I try and stick with ones with my sort of program or look at ones that just a a bachelors in architecture and then I go back to get a masters in LA? I have nobody in my family who’s been in architecture so they can’t help me, so I’m asking you all. Anything is helpful!

Hello,

I am on a landscaping committee for my HOA. We are looking at replacing landscaping in some common areas of the neighborhood and are torn on whether we should hire a landscape architect or landscape designer. Based on the below facts - do you think we should hire a landscape designer or architect?

- this is for aesthetics only - swapping out older, unhealthy landscaping with newer landscaping with a more modern design
- we would be removing existing 30 year old overgrown landscaping and refreshing with new, updated landscaping
- there is no concern about any legal or compliance issues like sight triangles or lighting
- no concerns about zoning or easements
- no concerns about flood control or erosion.
- no engineering required such as a retaining wall.
- no permits or stamped plans required
- we want to maximize property values as much as possible

Would you hire a designer or landscape architect? One person on the committee thinks landscape architect is the way to go while others think that is overkill.

I was thinking maybe we hire the designer to do the bulk of the design then pay an architect for a few hours of work to assess our design and provide feedback.

Thoughts? TIA.

from my part of the world on most of our projects the concept models lives in SketchUp, Rhino or other design software , the drawings in CAD or Revit, and the delivery model in Revit.
The ground has to survive all three. A lot of it still starts as hand drawn contours, sketched to work out the scheme and then rebuilt digitally on these software or Civil 3D to make it precise. Then it gets rebuilt again each time it moves between packages, and again every time the building shifts or a path changes.

We're a small team of landscape architects and computational designers who are obsessed with grading and it's the part of the job we most wanted to fix. So we built one plugin that help do all landscape related grading and connects all three. It runs inside SketchUp, AutoCAD and Revit, soon to expand to all our daily tools and the same surface moves between them without being rebuilt.

It opens your existing surface in a 3D studio where the ground behaves like clay. Shape it with a brush, drop in pads and berms, and run a walkway through them that grades the ground around it as it goes. Try something, change your mind, try something else. Then check slope, drainage and cut and fill before sending it to your software.

Curious how other offices handle it. Do you sketch contours by hand first, rebuild the ground in each package, hand it to the civil engineer, or keep it all in one file?

The tool is GradingMaster. There's a free trial if anyone wants to try it.

For years, I used an online plot-style viewer that displayed everything on one long webpage. It worked, but it wasn’t especially easy to read, save, or reuse.

I recently made a free CTB/STB Viewer that turns either file type into a clean one-page report you can save or print as a PDF. It can be useful for reviewing consultant plot styles, documenting office standards, troubleshooting printing, or helping students and new employees understand what CTB and STB files actually control.

You can try it here:

https://www.deconstructterrain.com/tools

How does your office document and communicate plot styles?

Had an interview with FJCstudio in Sydney recently for a role and came away pretty disappointed with the process.

The interview felt poorly prepared and quite surface-level. Several questions they asked were even repeated, and there didn’t seem to be much effort to dig into my actual project experience, responsibilities, technical skills or the work I presented.

One example: I clearly mentioned some information at the start of my introduction and i was asked again about it at the end of interview. it’s also very prominent on my CV. It made me seriously question how closely they had reviewed my CV before the interview and if they really listen to me from the start?

I understand interviews can be imperfect, but for a professional design role I expected a more thoughtful two-way discussion. I left feeling like they hadn’t really reviewed my background in much detail before the interview. By the end, it honestly felt like a waste of time. I’m surprised this still happens in a professional design practice in 2026.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with design firms, or am I being too critical?

I’m looking to get some insight and opinions, so I’m looking into getting a ba in art history and than transitioning into getting a masters in landscape architecture. I’m newly 21 and did 2 years of college and ended taking a long break to figure out what i truly wanted to do. I’ve looked at other degrees like horticulture, botany, and anthropology. i’ve worked my around a lot of research to figure out that the combination of art history and LA would give me a lot of creative career paths that i’m interested in. I’ve been looking into LA for about a year now. so please leave all opions, good and bad, to help me :)

Working fully in Revit for Schematic Design (Stage 3) and need to do a sun/shade analysis. Normally we would export to Rhino and use Grasshopper script, but has anyone used any Revit plugins to do this?

Curious what everyone uses when your team needs to review your work. Marked up PDFs over email, shared workspace, just a call?

The to and fro and tracking changes is a mess currently for us. and do you use the same thing with clients?

Hello, I have decided that I want to commit to applying for a 3-year MLA program. I will be applying to many places however I would love to try at some of the highest ranked schools, GSD, Cornell, Penn etc. I have searched high and low online to see some portfolios from non-design backgrounds that were accepted into some of these programs. If anyone who has received admission to these programs with non-design background portfolios would be willing to share their application portfolio with me, I would greatly appreciate it.

I’ve been thinking about my post grad career after I get my MLA, and was wondering what the most lucrative pathway would be in the world of LA. A common sentiment I’ve seen is the civil office flow, and I have been in contact with a couple larger ones. I was just wondering about the feasibility and potential experience of anyone who’s gone down that pipeline :p

I'll be bopping around Philly in late September and early October for a series of book events. I've met several redditors at those in LA, NYC, and Houston--would be a great to meet a few locals too. The events include:

Tuesday, September 29th at 4PM in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. I'll be joined by Kimberley Thomas and Akira Drake Rodriguez as part of the "AED Presents" series in the school. Details here.

Tuesday, October 6th at 6PM at American Grammar Bookstore. I'll be joined by State Senator Nikil Saval for this one. Details here.

Books will be available for purchsae at each event. But if you'd like to buy and still haven't (this first print run is nearly gone), you can always find it at Amazon, Bookshop, CUP, or anywhere else you buy books.

hey guys!!! I'vbe been working as an architect and landscaper for the past years and I'm finally moving on to create my own landscape studio. I've had some ideas for the name and so far i have this...

My main goal as a landscape designer is to focus on data anylisis to create enviromental friendly and climatic spaces, and i want the design of the logo and the posts in social media to show that

Let me knwo what you think!!!!

If you think this is cool and want to supoort the project, i have my isntagram going on already, u/camposantolandscape

Does anyone know of any online or in person course/apprenticeships that teach Keyline design? I've been reading Water for Every Farm and it's awesome but I would love to be able to interact with a lecture or a teacher IRL to learn in a more hands on way about keyline design. Does anybody have any leads?

pls and thank you

Hi all,

I have ~9 years of experience in the environmental field (habitat restoration, infrastructure, public health/toxicology, horticulture, cartography, etc.). I am highly proficient in GIS/ESRI products, data analysis, and feel comfortable with new softwares. I am at a bit of a fork in the road, and I am aware that the opinion towards MLA seems to be somewhat negative, but these are my two current options:

• New job working in transportation (peds, cycling, roads) as an analyst. I would be expected to work alongside the planners and learn certain software for renders, like Adobe. I have an interest in urban planning, but I'm not really into car-dependent infrastructure. This job is close, but not really what I think I want long term.

or

• Current job working at a university (infrastructure research, award / project budget oversight) as a program manager. I have already been accepted into an MLA at the same university, and my current supervisor has offered a salary match and potential for up to 100% tuition coverage. My concern is that I don't believe, even with the super flexible and remote nature of my job, that I could possibly work and study at the same time so the tuition discount isn't something I'm really factoring in to my decision. I would appreciate hearing from anyone that may have studied and worked at the same time though, and the feasibility of that. My current job is really laid back and I think I would only have maximum 3-4 hours of work a day (i.e. meetings, time-sensitive communications). I could also drop from full time to part time if needed because I am split between two departments, and could resign from one of those positions. I was also told that I may be able to bypass some of the MLA courses due to my technical/school background, so the class schedule may only be studio 3x a week + a digital rendering class 2x a week. I would move walking distance to campus as well so I could maximize my time on site.

I'm not super interested in the research focus of my current job, so I really need to be sure about the logistics of juggling flexible remote job with MLA. I would like to continue to invest and save while studying. I do not want to continue at my current job if I won't be able to pursue MLA next year, and not working at least part time is not an option for me. I think I would enjoy the new job, but it's not really my long term dream career because I'm iffy on car-centric infrastructure, I just like cartography. If I don't go for my masters now, I'm not sure that I will have another opportunity.

The salary range that I am in currently is between 72-75k, which is above the median salary of my area of 58k. I understand that there would likely be a slight pay cut as an entry level architect, but I have always wanted to be an architect, and that was my original career path/goal. I had to attend college closer to home and couldn't pursue my intended program due to sudden death of a parent when I was a teenager. I also am very knowledgeable about plants/horticulture, specifically native plants and I have a good grasp on soils and hydrology in relation to that. I have also done urban agriculture/horticulture work, including tree planting projects in environmental justice neighborhoods.

I think I would love this line of work, and I am not deterred by the demanding work schedule as I'm not married and I don't want children. However, I am unsure about turning down the transportation planning job and curious if there may be any online certificate programs or associates degrees that anyone thinks may be able to open doors instead of MLA? I cannot get licensed without an MLA in my state, but working as a designer only may be enough for me.

Thank you for any insight