Welcome Landscape Architecture Students

The mission of the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design is to prepare students to be leaders in the discipline of landscape architecture by developing innovative design thinking, design research, and design action. Our faculty and students seek to address the profession’s current and future challenges through the lens of social, environmental, and multispecies climate justice. Our curriculum engages critical thinking about complex and indeterminate systems, empowering students to design and implement actionable change across multiple scales of the landscape. Design, theory, media, and workshop are the program’s four curricular strands of study, each actively engaging students in collaborative studio environments and field-based learning. Educating flexible design minds is more important than ever, and our committed faculty are exploring new ways of thinking, teaching, and researching together.

Since its inception in 1924, the Department of Landscape Architecture continues to be recognized internationally for its unique and innovative ecological approach to the design of landscapes, public works, public spaces, and infrastructures. The department’s distinguished landscape faculty provides expertise in design, digital technology, plant science, urban ecology, and history and theory. In their research and teaching, faculty specialize in subjects including global biodiversity, environmental justice, decarbonization and energy policy, nature-based infrastructure, cultural landscapes of memory, critical digital mapping, plant knowledge, environmental sensing, and brownfield regeneration. Our transdisciplinary approach allows our students and faculty to collaborate closely with the other departments at the Weitzman School of Design as well as with allied disciplines across the broader university.

The department’s flagship faculty research center is the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology. The McHarg Center is active in the core research areas of climate policy and post-carbon futures; biodiversity and global land use planning; public realm equity and reparative justice; and environmental modeling, sensing, and visualization. Many of our students are directly engaged as research associates with our faculty through the McHarg Center. The department is represented in the broader public and academic arenas by an array of significant books by faculty (see Faculty Publications) and the award-winning biannual journal LA+, devoted to advancing interdisciplinary ideas and expanding critical inquiry through the lens of landscape architecture.

At the University of Pennsylvania, the Department of Landscape Architecture is designing the world we want to inhabit, advancing both the landscape profession and the discipline. Our faculty and students are world builders, and we look to the future with optimism.

July 31: First day of Summer Institute for all MLA incoming students on Penn campus. Orientation and kickoff events.

August 23: Weitzman School of Design New Student Orientation

August 26: Department Orientation

August 27: First Day of Classes

Both the MLA I and MLA II degree programs begin with a month-long Summer Institute that occurs in the four weeks preceding the start of the Fall semester.  

The MLA I and MLA II Summer Institutes each comprise a series of courses that prepare incoming MLA students with the necessary skills to "hit the ground running" in their respective programs. The institutes are also an important part of the development of the studio cohort and provides an excellent opportunity for students to familiarize themselves with the Penn campus and City of Philadelphia. The Summer Institute courses are graded Pass/Fail, and students who Fail a Summer Institute course will not be permitted to continue in the program in the Fall.

All incoming MLA students are required to participate in Summer Institute prior to the start of the fall semester. All institute courses are required for all incoming students in their respective program.  

The flat fee for the 2024 Summer Institute for incoming students is $1,000. This fee covers participation in the Summer Institute and travel associated with the Natural Systems course. Students should expect some additional expenses related to sketch pads, drawing tools, and other supplies. Computer software related courses will be taught in school computer labs with software installed. 

Students should expect to spend class time engaged in studio and classroom learning, and additional time outside of class completing assignments. The Summer Institute experience is a full-on commitment of time and energy--you should expect full days of class and project work, and some time in the evenings and weekends devoted to work, as well.  Aside from the asynchronous online course “The Penn Experience: Racism, Reconciliation and Engagement,” all summer institute courses will be in-person and based on the Penn campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  International students and students moving to Philadelphia should make travel plans accordingly.

The 2024 Summer Institute will begin on Wednesday, July 31 and run through August 22. 

Summer Institute Course Descriptions 

For entering 3-Year MLA students 

LARP 7890-901  Lineages of Contemporary Landscape for 3-Year Students 

This one-week course will introduce students to some of the most important strands of contemporary landscape architecture, introduce important landscape vocabulary and terminology in the landscape lexicon, analyze seminal landscape case studies, and hold group discussion on these topics. It will provide an overview of the vocabulary of landscape representation and visualization, introduce students to techniques of landscape representation, and then dive more deeply into the visualization of information, grounded in landscape theory. Students will collaborate on a historical analysis of the various threads of landscape architecture, tracing its relationship to allied fields such as architecture, urbanism, ecology, cultural geography, art, and the landscape garden tradition—and use this analysis as a basis of group discussion about what landscape architecture can accomplish in the world. Along the way, we will talk about how we use visualization as a way to synthesize ideas and as a projective device for testing new concepts and combinations. This course will offer an opportunity to practice research methods, and prepare students for digital collaboration. 

LARP 7900-901  Natural Systems for 3-Year Students 

This one-week session for entering three-year MLA students will provide an introduction to the varied physiographic provinces and associated plant communities of the greater Philadelphia region. Through a review of available mapping and on-site study we will characterize and consider the connections between climate, geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic. With a focus on plants students will begin to develop a familiarity with the local flora (native and non-native) including plant species identification, preferred growing conditions, and potential for use. Field trips will include visits to the Inner Coastal Plain and Piedmont. 

LARP 7910-901  Landscape Operations for 3-Year Students 

This one-week course will introduce some of the concepts and techniques for the manipulation of the ground plane, one of the most fundamental skills in landscape architecture. The course will discuss some of the technologies, considerations, and constraints of operating on landform, introduce representation techniques that convey how we describe and communicate landform and topography, and walk students through some simple design exercises to make a set of interventions on a topographic site. Students will develop an appreciation for the spatial implications of landform, for landscape narrative, for the movement of water and people across the landscape, and for the operation of reshaping the ground, through the construction of a set of drawings that walk viewers through students’ set of interventions on their site. Work product from this week will serve as the starting point for the following week’s course, Introduction to Digital Media for 3-year Students. 

LARP 7920-901  Introduction to Digital Media for 3-Year Students 

This four-day introductory course is intended to enable students to orient themselves to digital media facilities, programs, and workflows. The course is focused around daily projects building up to a final pinup. Each daily project illustrates a different set of work paths between digital programs, as well as teaches students how to use different software applications key to the practice of landscape architecture today. The focus of this course is to enable students to understand what each digital software application offers to the landscape process, and how to build change and iteration into digital workflows. 

DCOH 8850-001  The Penn Experience: Racism, Reconciliation and Engagement 

Asynchronous course to be completed during the Summer Institute  

This virtual online course, developed through a collaborative effort between the School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2) and the School of Dental Medicine at Penn, introduces students to the connections between Penn, Philadelphia, and issues of race, racism, and other forms of oppression, as well as the cultural and institutional contexts surrounding Penn. The course features video interviews, presentations, short readings, and podcasts, and focuses on topics such as cultural differences, implicit bias, intercultural communication, gender identity, and antiracism. It is completely asynchronous, and is to be completed prior to the start of the Fall semester. The six modules take an estimated 20 hours. 

For entering 2-Year MLA students 

LARP 7940-901  Natural Systems for 2-Year Students  

This five-day session for entering two-year MLA students will provide an introduction to the varied physiographic provinces and associated plant communities of the greater Philadelphia region. Through a review of available mapping and on-site study we will characterize and consider the connections between climate, geology, topography, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, and disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic. With a focus on plants students will begin to develop a familiarity with the local flora (native and non-native) including plant species identification, preferred growing conditions, and potential for use. Field trips will include visits to the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 

LARP 7930-901  Landform and Grading Workshop for 2-Year Students 

The reading and shaping of landform is an elemental tool in the practice of landscape architecture. The act of grading design – the shaping and sculpting of landform – is both art and science. This five-day session for entering two-year MLA students aims to provide an appreciation of landform as both an evocative component in the design vocabulary and as a critical tool in resolving difficult design problems. Basic techniques and strategies of grading design are introduced and reinforced, so that grading design becomes an integral part of the students’ design approach. This session is intended to provide a concise overview of the principles and process of landform and grading design, and is designed to prepare the entering two-year students for Workshop III. 

LARP 7950-901 Intro to Computing for 2-Year Students 

This nine-day session introduces the entering two-year MLA students to digital media as the primary mode of design visual communication. The course provides a short, yet intensive, hands-on inquiry into the production and expression of digital media that is essential for all designers. Through a series of working labs, students learn various software applications and associated techniques to execute precise two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional concepts. Students also learn the Weitzman systems, network basics and computer lab procedures. 

DCOH 8850-001  The Penn Experience: Racism, Reconciliation and Engagement 

Asynchronous course to be completed during the Summer Institute 

This virtual online course, developed through a collaborative effort between the School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2) and the School of Dental Medicine at Penn, introduces students to the connections between Penn, Philadelphia, and issues of race, racism, and other forms of oppression, as well as the cultural and institutional contexts surrounding Penn. The course features video interviews, presentations, short readings, and podcasts, and focuses on topics such as cultural differences, implicit bias, intercultural communication, gender identity, and antiracism. It is completely asynchronous, and is to be completed prior to the start of the Fall semester. The six modules take an estimated 20 hours. 

Summer Institute 2024

The 2024 Summer Institute will begin on Wednesday, July 31 and run through Thursday, August 22. The 2024 Summer Institute Orientation and Kickoff will occur on July 31, 2024. 

More information on registering for Fall Semester courses will be posted here.

International students on F-1 or J-1 visas are required to check in with International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS). The check-in process includes an online tutorial, online arrival form, and an in-person document check upon your arrival into the US. Please plan to arrive in Philadelphia at least one business day before the start of Summer Institute to complete the in-person check-in. You are encouraged to make an appointment in advance.

Please visit the ISSS webpage for detailed information on Mandatory New Student Check-In Requirements.

Penn Landscape students participate in a number of exciting field trips each year and to insure the safety of all students during their travels, Penn requires that students who drive a university vehicle or rental vehicle during any school-related trip must complete Penn's online driver's safety training. Log in to Knowledge Link with your PennKey and password, search for "Driver Safety Training for Van Drivers" in the "Find Learning" field and complete the nine-module course (it will take approximately 1.5 hours to complete). Please notify Rae Zarate (rae12amz@design.upenn.edu) once you have completed the training so that we may confirm your results have been received by the Office of Risk Management. Please also submit a scanned copy of your driver's license and your cell phone number for our records.

Incoming MLA students are required to buy or bring a computer for your time as a student at Weitzman School. Please see the Computer Purchasing Guidelines provided by Weitzman School IT. Specific guidelines for 2024-2025 will be posted in early summer.

Please visit the Get to Know Us page on the Admissions website to view the profiles of current students and recent alumni.

Learn more about the faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture on our People page.

Read about our publications and view student work in our annual Landscapes in Process catalog.

Check out our recent lecture series here: Weitzman School of Design (vimeo.com)