Course Title: Landscape Architecture Professional Practice

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Landscape Architecture Professional Practice

Credit Points: 12.00

Important Information:

Please note that this course may have compulsory in-person attendance requirements for some teaching activities.  

To participate in any RMIT course in-person activities or assessment, you will need to comply with RMIT vaccination requirements which are applicable during the duration of the course. This RMIT requirement includes being vaccinated against COVID-19 or holding a valid medical exemption.  

Please read this RMIT Enrolment Procedure as it has important information regarding COVID vaccination and your study at RMIT: https://policies.rmit.edu.au/document/view.php?id=209.  

Please read the Student website for additional requirements of in-person attendance: https://www.rmit.edu.au/covid/coming-to-campus

Please check your Canvas course shell closer to when the course starts to see if this course requires mandatory in-person attendance. The delivery method of the course might have to change quickly in response to changes in the local state/national directive regarding in-person course attendance.


Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

ARCH1170

City Campus

Undergraduate

315H Architecture & Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2006,
Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013

ARCH1170

City Campus

Undergraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 2 2014,
Sem 2 2015

ARCH1374

City Campus

Postgraduate

315H Architecture & Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013

ARCH1374

City Campus

Postgraduate

320H Architecture & Urban Design

Face-to-Face

Sem 2 2014,
Sem 2 2015,
Sem 2 2016,
Sem 2 2017,
Sem 2 2018,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 2 2022,
Sem 2 2023

Course Coordinator: Jen Lynch

Course Coordinator Phone: Contact via email

Course Coordinator Email: Jen.lynch@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 100.08

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment only


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

This course provides you with a basic understanding of the professional operations of landscape architectural practice. It will introduce the range of practice undertaken by qualified landscape architects and focus on requirements typical to most forms of practice, large or small, in public and private sectors. The course will provide familiarity with the full scope of legal and administrative requirements of practice and office procedure. This includes the production of all forms of drawn and written project documentation from seeking projects, through establishment of the brief, agreement on fees or processes of bidding or tendering, site assessment, design conception and documentation, invoicing and contract administration, to final client handover and ongoing management of liability. It will introduce you to the legal and professional practice aspects of Landscape Architecture through lectures and seminars by practitioners with a range of project experience. This will be reinforced and further explained through accompanying tutorials and assignments. 

This course includes a work integrated learning (WIL) experience in which your knowledge and skills will be applied and assessed in a real or simulated workplace context and where feedback from industry and/ or community is integral to your experience.

While there is no formally assessed requirement to undertake an internship, practical training in an approved office, whether a local private firm or government agency, is strongly encouraged. Such work experience provides you with an opportunity to overview the variety and complexity of project processes in a working office. You can build on their general understanding of office functions, the administrative procedures and design stages involved in applying for and acquiring a landscape project, and subsequent modes of administering the project through to the execution stage. Additionally, work experience is hoped to make you aware of the significant influences that the client, community, economics and other policy planning issues exert over the design and construction process. You will be exposed to the design process as an open and dynamic one, full of opportunities and challenges that come from real constraints and compromises, rather than the outcome of a singular, individually driven project objective. 


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

In this course you will develop the following program learning outcomes:

  • Initiate, execute and situate substantial Landscape Architectural design research projects which demonstrate an engagement with urban and global complexities and an applied critical knowledge of the ecological, cultural, political, economic and ethical issues of Landscape Architecture.
  • Generate innovative outcomes for Landscape Architecture design projects at a range of scales through a mastery of practice which synthesizes creative, critical, analytical, reflective and theoretical thinking skills.
  • Effectively and fluently disseminate design research across disciplines to specialist and non-specialist audiences through a mastery of communication skills in a range of forms and media which shows a sophisticated understanding of the technical and theoretical frameworks of landscape architecture.
  • Express a high level of personal responsibility within independent design research projects combining an ability to employ a range of design processes for the generation and evaluation of design research projects.
  • Interrogate, question, engage and act in a broad range of social and cultural situations, and demonstrate effective teamwork and collaborative practices including an openness to others from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds.
  • Evidence the capacity to be an agent for change and innovation in the profession of Landscape Architecture in local and global contexts and in wider society as a whole.


Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

  1. Express a clear understanding of the breadth and depth of the profession.
  2. Clearly articulate the theoretical and practical knowledge of the typical Landscape Architectural project stages.
  3. Evidence an advanced understanding of the various aspects of Landscape Architectural practice.
  4. Display an ability to identify and utilise a range of techniques to develop appropriate and innovative responses to project requirements.
  5. Demonstrate an ability to draw on appropriate theoretical frameworks to generate a professional approach to landscape architecture.
  6. Work individually and collaboratively.


Overview of Learning Activities

The course comprises class-based lectures, tutorials and assignments. Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.

This course will:

  • Introduce you to the work of public and private Landscape Architectural practice.
  • Expose you to a wide range of modes and conventions of professional practice.
  • Foster open communication between you and Landscape Architectural practice.
  • Establish a framework for ongoing discussion of topics of interest to practitioners and students alike.
  • Set a variety of tasks for you which are personally, professionally and academically challenging, which capable of assessment and which reinforce your knowledge of practice.
  • Develop a professional attitude to project delivery through work experience that can be further developed in an office environment and refined and reflected on in the academic environment.

This course has embedded within it a significant WIL componant. This involves: presentations and lectures given by a wide range of leading Landscape Architects; practitioners and registered landscape architects teaching into the course; you will be engaging directly with industry through office visits, project site visits, and conducting assessment tasks directly related to the management of professional businesses and the procurement and delivery of projects. 


Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.

The University Library has extensive resources for Landscape Architecture students.

The Library has produced a subject guide that includes quality online and print resources for your studies. this can be found at:  http://rmit.libguides.com/landscape-arch

The Library provides guides on academic referencing http://www.rmit.edu.au/library/referencing
and subject specialist help via your Liaison Librarian Gwen Scott gwen.scott@rmit.edu.au

RMIT Online Learning Hub can be found at www.rmit.edu.au/myrmit

The Library has additional support information on academic referencing http://www.rmit.edu.au/LIBRARY/referencing

A range of Study resources can be found at: https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/study-support/learning-lab

The RMIT University Study and Learning Centre offers a variety of services for students with a first language other than English: https://www.rmit.edu.au/students/study-support/study-and-learning-centre


Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes.

Assessment Tasks

Task 1: Establishing a Landscape Architectural Office, 20% CLOs 1, 4, 5 & 6

Task 2: Preparing an Expression of Interest, 40%, CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

Task 3: Concept Design and Documentation, 40% CLOs 2, 3, 4 & 6

Feedback will be given on all assessment tasks.

If you have a long term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.