Landscape Architecture
BSc (Hons) (NFQ Level 8)
Course Video
Curricular information is subject to change.
Open AllIf you love design, nature and the outdoors, are interested in society and the ways that we live, and want to make a better, more sustainable future for our towns and countrysides, then Landscape Architecture is for you. This exciting programme teaches you how to design with nature to improve our environment and the quality of our lives.
Landscape architects work on all sorts of projects, all over the world, designing habitats for humans and non-humans: homes for city birds, playgrounds for children, rooftop gardens, streetscapes, city parks and even cities themselves. They transform urban and rural land, and water-bodies, and advise on countryside matters. Landscape design engages environmentalism, urbanism and culture, teaching important transferable skills that you’ll use wherever you are, whatever you do in the future.
Key Fact:
UCD is currently the only university in Ireland to offer an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture.
The design studio is central to Landscape Architecture. You’ll spend most of your time in the studio, pursuing individual and small group project work. You’ll learn by doing design projects that allow you to develop creative skills and apply knowledge taught through lectures, seminars, drawing classes, field trips, reviews, readings, individual and group tutorials. In your third year you will also gain professional experience interning in a landscape related company / institution.
Lectures fall into three main categories:
Ecological and Environmental Sciences
- Land Use & the Environment
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Landscape Ecology
- Cell and Plant Biology
- Soil Resources
- Understanding Landscape
- Landscape Plants
Human Sciences, Technology and Culture
- Landscape History & Theory
- Archaeology
- Rural & Landscape Planning
- City & Spatial Planning
- Materials & Construction Policy
- History & Theory of the Designed Environment
- GIS for Environmental Assessment
- Climate Policy and Politics
Professional and Managerial Skills
- Professional Practice
- Planning Law
- Research and Writing.
A combination of regular studio reviews, reports, as well as end-of-trimester written and portfolio examinations, is used to assess your work. The fourth year concludes with a design thesis based on a subject of your own choosing.
For detailed information on subject content click here.
You may be interested in the following Blog posts: Why study Landscape Architecture in UCD.
The UCD Landscape Architecture degree programme is part of the European Landscape Education Exchange. This Erasmus programme is a landscape architecture education network involving 11 universities in Europe and providing opportunities for staff and student exchange. Students regularly spend time abroad, either on short field trips, or participating in intensive design studios with students from other universities, or opting to spend a semester studying at one of our partner universities
Graduates of UCD Landscape Architecture work all over the world because of their transferable skills. Our students become professional landscape architects, setting up in business, working in private practice, for governmental bodies or NGO’s. Others go onto further academic study in landscape architecture, or related subjects and some go onto work in areas such as:
- Environmental and Ecological Policy-Making
- Conservation and Resource Management
- Planning or Urban Design
The majority of our students become professional landscape architects. After two years of approved work experience, graduates sit the Irish Landscape Institute professional exams, which lead to full professional membership of the ILI. (See www.irishlandscapeinstitute.com).
Internship Option
There is an optional 6-8 month internship module in Year 3 of the BSc Landscape Architecture. Internship employers have included AECOM, Austen Associates, Bernard Seymour Landscape Architects, Murray & Associates, South Dublin County Council, and Summerhill Landscapes (New York).
“I chose to study Landscape Architecture at UCD due to my love of design, nature and the outdoors. I was always interested in society and the way that people live. This course at UCD offers a wide range of exciting modules in various related topics such as land use, the environment, planning, ecology, and urban design. The design studio is central and has prepared me for my future career by allowing me to build on my environmental knowledge, design skills while using technical and technological approaches. This degree has offered me a wide range of exciting opportunities, e.g. a trimester abroad, various class trips around Ireland and Europe and an internship in a Landscape Architecture firm. I completed my exchange at The University of Hong Kong, which proved to be the most exciting and rewarding opportunity of my life.”
-Niamh Conlon, Student
UCD Engineering & Architecture College Office,
Engineering and Materials Science Centre,
Belfield,
Dublin 4
Tel: +353 1 716 1916
Email: katie.oneill@ucd.ie
