The landscape architecture major teaches students to design environments in urban, rural and agricultural contexts at all scales. Students learn strategies to repair and strengthen ecological systems, create and restore habitats, manage storm water, express cultural values, and support human health and well-being. This major encourages students to explore the cultural value of landscapes, to redefine how landscape architects can transform the urban fabric, and to design resilient, climate-responsive projects.
Required Courses and Credits
The curriculum for the Bachelor of Environmental Design (BEnvD) is subdivided into two parts:
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The first part consists of a core lasting one-and-a-half years which provides a balanced introduction to each of the majors offered. By the end of the core studies, students select or confirm their intended major.
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The second part is focused on a selected major. Studies lead to the degree Bachelor of Environmental Design (BEnvD) with a major in either environmental products of design, architecture, landscape architecture and sustainable planning and urban design. Each area has specific requirements for completing the major.
Credit Hours
Students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours subject to the maximum outlined in this catalog, meet all specified university general education requirements, all major core requirements and maintain a GPA of 2.00 or better. Students must complete courses with a grade of C- or better to fulfill university and degree requirements.
Students in the Department in Environmental Design are required to complete coursework meeting General Education requirements; each major may have differing totals. Students who take approved CU Boulder coursework to fulfill their General Education requirements must take those courses for a letter grade and receive a grade of C- or higher. Students may not use thesis hours, independent study, internship or practicum courses to fill any of the General Education requirements. All courses approved to fulfill specific General Education requirements are identified as such in this catalog and are searchable in CU Boulder Class Search.
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Design core | 37 | |
| Consists of a sequential core lasting one-and-a-half years which provides a balanced introduction to each of the majors offered. By the end of the core semesters, students select or confirm their intended major. | ||
| Environmental Design major | 54 | |
| The second part of the sequential Environmental Design core is focused on a selected major, which leads to the degree Bachelor of Environmental Design (BEnvD) with a major in either environmental products of design, architecture, landscape architecture, or sustainable planning and urban design. Each major has specific requirements and culminates into capstone requirements to complete the major. | ||
| Environmental Design electives (9 credits) | ||
| General Education Requirements | ||
| Lower-Division Writing requirement | 3 | |
| Choose one: | ||
| Writing in Arts and Sciences | ||
| First Year Writing for Environmental Design | ||
| First-Year Writing in Energy, Environment and Sustainability | ||
| Extended First-Year Writing and Rhetoric | ||
| First-Year Writing and Rhetoric | ||
| Upper-Division Writing requirement 1 | 3 | |
| Lower-Division Social Science requirement 2 | 3 | |
| Lower-Division Arts & Humanities requirement 3 | 3 | |
| Upper-Division Art and Humanities or Social Science requirement 4 | 3 | |
| Math requirement | 3 | |
| Meet with Academic Advisor to determine requirement for specific major. Choose one: | ||
| Precalculus Mathematics and Precalculus Supplemental Lab | ||
| Calculus 1 | ||
| Introduction to Statistics | ||
| Statistics and Geographic Data | ||
| Introduction to Social Statistics | ||
| Natural Science requirement | 3 | |
| Meet with an Academic Advisor to determine requirements for specific major. Choose from the following: | ||
| General Physics 1 | ||
| General Physics 1 | ||
| General Biology 1 and General Biology Laboratory 1 | ||
| General Biology 2 and General Biology Laboratory 2 | ||
| Plants and Society | ||
| General Chemistry 1 and Laboratory in General Chemistry 1 | ||
| Our Changing Planet: Climate and Vegetation | ||
| Our Changing Planet: Landscapes and Water | ||
| Global Change: An Earth Science Perspective and Introduction to Geology Laboratory 1 | ||
| Non-Environmental Design electives (6-9 credits) to meet 120 graduation credits. | 9 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 121 | |
| 1 | May be fulfilled by courses in Upper-Division Writing requirement list or ENVD 3150. |
| 2 | May be fulfilled by courses in Lower-Division Social Science requirement list. |
| 3 | May be fulfilled by courses in Lower-Division Arts & Humanities requirement list. |
| 4 | May be fulfilled by 3000/4000-level courses in Upper-Division Art and Humanities or Social Science requirement lists. |
Sample Four-Year Plans of Study
The first three semesters of the BEnvD curriculum are the core curriculum, which is prerequisite for each of the majors: Environmental Products of Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Sustainable Planning and Urban Design. There are corequisite ENVD core courses each semester and the core courses are typically sequential from semester to semester.
ENVD Core
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Credit Hours | |
| ENVD 1010 | Studio 1: Introduction to Environmental Products of Design | 3 |
| ENVD 1020 | Studio 1: Introduction to Architecture | 3 |
| ENVD 1002 | Technology 1: Applications for Environmental Design | 2 |
| ENVD 1004 | Introduction to Environmental Design | 3 |
| ENVD 1976 | Colloquium - Exploring Careers, Research and Practice | 1 |
| Lower-Division Writing requirement (choose one: ARSC 1150, ENVD 1150, ENVS 1150, WRTG 1100 or WRTG 1150) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| ENVD 1030 | Studio 1: Introduction to Landscape Architecture | 3 |
| ENVD 1040 | Studio 1: Introduction to Sustainable Planning and Urban Design | 3 |
| ENVD 1012 | Technology 2: Visual Communications | 2 |
| ENVD 1024 | History of the Built Environment | 3 |
| Lower-Division Arts & Humanities requirement 1 | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| ENVD 1110 | Studio 2: Fundamentals of Environmental Design 1 | 3 |
| ENVD 1120 | Studio 2: Fundamentals of Design 2 | 3 |
| ENVD 1022 | Technology 3: Intermediate Applications for Environmental Design | 2 |
| ENVD 2003 | Ecological Systems in Design | 3 |
| ENVD 2101 | Context of Design: Planning and Implementation | 3 |
| Lower-Division Social Science requirement 2 | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 17 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 46 | |
| Second Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spring Semester | Credit Hours | |
| LAND 2100 | Studio 1: Foundations of Landscape Architecture | 6 |
| LAND 2004 | History of Landscape Architecture | 3 |
| ENVD 2001 | Human Behavior and Design | 3 |
| MATH 1150 & 1151 or MATH 1300, MATH 2510, SOCY 2061) Meet with Academic Advisor suggested | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| LAND 3100 | Studio 2: Intermediate Landscape Architecture | 6 |
| LAND 3003 | Site Planning, Materials, and Technologies | 3 |
| LAND 3103 | Ecological Planting Design | 3 |
| Natural Science requirement (choose one or one pair: ATOC 3600, CHEM 1011, CHEM 1113 & CHEM 1114, EBIO 1210 & EBIO 1230, EBIO 1220 & EBIO 1240, EBIO 3590, EBIO 4060, GEOG 1001, GEOG 1011, GEOL 1060, PHYS 1110 or PHYS 2010) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| Professional development requirement (complete application for advisor approval) 3 | 6 | |
| Upper-Division Writing or ENVD 3150 1 | 3 | |
| Design Elective 4 | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| Elective Studio (choose one: ENVD 3100, LAND 3100 or an approved Design study abroad) 5 | 6 | |
| LAND 4114 | Landscape Architecture Theory | 3 |
| Upper-Division Arts & Humanities or Social Science 2 | 3 | |
| Design Elective 4 | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| LAND 4100 | Capstone in Landscape Architecture | 6 |
| Design Elective 4 | 3 | |
| Electives | 6 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 75 | |
| 1 | Upper-Division Writing or ENVD 3150 |
| 2 | Upper-Division Humanities (3000/4000-level courses); Upper-Division Social Science (3000/4000-level courses) |
| 3 | Application for professional development requirement |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Students can enroll in an additional 3100 studio in their major to fulfill the elective studio requirement. Please meet with your advisor to address course options. |
Learning Outcomes
By the completion of the program, students will be able to:
- Use creative, critical and convergent thinking to address social and environmental issues, analyzing the need for and impact of design solutions by examining precedents, applying theoretical knowledge, conducting research and using problem-defining techniques.
- Develop conceptual or material solutions to socio-environmental issues through iterative design processes, synthesizing critical feedback and collaborative findings with peers and communities they engage with.
- Employ graphic, verbal, written, spatial and other communication strategies to organize, demonstrate and effectively argue for their design concepts and proposals.
- Apply principles of social and environmental justice in their work. They will prioritize design stewardship and sustainability to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all project constituents.
- Demonstrate foundational technical skills and apply methodologies essential for entering academic and professional disciplines in environmental design.