... latest update:
09/30/2009 03:20 PM
...please
note this is a
working draft subject to change
... latest update:
link to Design Workshop project descriptions (for the Taos
project)
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Architecture, Planning & Design
Department of Landscape Architecture / Regional & Community Planning
LAR 220 Section B ... for the PBs
Composite
Landscape Architecture Site Design Studio I
Fall 2009 MWF 1:30 to 5:20
Seaton Court 106 abc 4 cr. hrs.
Lorn Clement
Associate Professor | Seaton Court 103F | 785.532.5961 or 532.2435 |
lacjr@ksu.edu
Syllabus ...
Course
Schedule . . . College events:
calendar
Course objectives
Studio policy and procedure
Evaluation and late work
Academic honesty
Student academic creations
Project descriptions and examples
Required texts
Recommended texts
Notebook
Sketchbook
Cumulative expression
Vocabulary list
Materials list
"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience -- well, that comes from poor judgment." British author A.A. Milne, quoted in the Chicago Tribune.
Introduction
Landscape architecture, as a profession, is knowledge-based,
process-based, and solves environmental design problems. This first studio in the
landscape architecture design sequence will address some of the fundamental knowledge and
skills of the profession. The course emphasis will be on design and drawing activities
that enrich the processes and products of your work. Building perceptual skills,
vocabulary and concepts, programming, analysis and synthesis, developing judgment,
improving drawing and compositional skills are all part of the semester content. We
hope to enhance creativity. We are
very interested in creative processes.
Our main subject is space.
And we are concerned that our designs engage the environment in a way that
dramatically reduces or eliminates the need for fossil fuel.
Studio time is scheduled MWF from 1:30 to 5:20 pm. Lectures,
demonstrations, and other presentations by faculty or guests will occur
generally in Seaton
106c at 1:30. Individual or small group desk
critiques (crits) will then
follow at your desks in the assigned studios.
One key intention of the semester will be to achieve a good balance of ideas, hand drawing, and computer-aided drawing and model building in the studio. There will be an emphasis on conceptualization in the studio, and to that end we will be asking for several alternative potential solutions for each project, lots of drawing on trace as a means of generating and developing concepts, and a flexible attitude in addressing project requirements.
This web page will be used to post examples of projects, relevant links and useful websites. For example, key references for important landscape architects and what is going on today in the practice of the profession can be found on my recommended readings page. Please take the time to look, and suggest links that relate to project themes, drawing or landscape design.
Tech Module I will complement the studio, to learn SketchUp and GIS skills which will be applied in the design studio, and the Natural Systems and Site Analysis course projects. Design Graphics and Visual Thinking will also complement the studio.
This course will provide opportunities for you to develop and refine your knowledge and skills of landscape architectural design, especially:
Projects will involve black and white media, color, and models, including the software SketchUp. Projects will require that you define your terms, goals and objectives; research background information; analyze existing conditions; articulate programmatic requirements, develop concepts; and prepare diagrams, text, plans, perspectives, sections and details that effectively communicate your proposals. Creative and collaborative approaches will be encouraged.
An emphasis will be placed on visualization skills, communication skills, understanding the natural, built, and cultural context in which projects occur and on the organization and articulation of space. Regarding specific "L A" vocabulary, we recommend Baker H. Morrow's A Dictionary of Landscape Architecture SB 469.25 .M67 1987, on closed reserve at Weigel Library, and other books right there.
Please see the use of sketchbooks below.
Studio activity during studio hours should be directly related to
assigned projects. Please do not expect a response to work until there is substantial
material to which I can respond. It will
be up to you to think critically and creatively; to formulate, develop and defend your own
ideas during a project -- the work and the outcomes from it are your responsibility.
Attendance is required throughout assigned studio time, unless you have a serious need for
an excused absence. If such a need occurs you should let the instructors know before
missing class. You are responsible for obtaining and learning material missed during an
unexcused absence. Four unexcused absences will result in a course grade lowered by one
letter grade.
Please let me know before Labor Day if you need any special accommodations for any kind of limitation that might interfere with learning in the course. Any student with a disability that needs a classroom accommodation, access to technology or other assistance in this course should contact Disability Support Services and/or their instructor.
Retention of student work by the faculty is often necessary, as you know, for displays,
accreditation visits and other needs of the department and the university. We will make an
effort to provide access to retained work if you need it for a portfolio or for job
interviews.
Keeping the studios orderly and clean, with clear aisles for easy and quick
circulation, is important due to life-safety concerns, not to mention the huge investment
recently made in improving the quality of our space. Please pick up regularly and respect the
rights and needs of others in the studio with you. That means that you should use
headphones if you listen to music; not watch videos that may distract your
classmates during class time; keep obstacles such as bicycles outside the studio,
etc. Please use your common sense. See the department and
college policies on use of classrooms and studios.
Project evaluation / late work
policy
All projects must be turned in complete and on time: deadlines are a
reality of practice that we must get used to. Late projects will be penalized by as
much as one letter grade per day. This is one good reason for working up presentations
through layers or stages of completion -- working across the whole set of drawings at each
stage will assist you with being finished as well as promoting a unified product.
All projects will receive a letter grade. The criteria to be used in grading will be
explained in the project statement. Each criteria will be evaluated and the project grade
will represent a summation of criteria grades. It is very important that you understand
the nature of the project, what is expected of you and how you are expected to address the
issues or tasks of each assignment. Please feel free to ask questions and discuss ideas
that come to you during introductions of projects, and thereafter.
Each letter grade carries a specific meaning:
| A... | A means outstanding work. The work shows significant
innovation and depth of understanding of the project requirements. The project has been
fully developed and very well communicated graphically. Generally there has been an
unusual or unique concept employed which enhances the solution. The full potential of the
problem has been demonstrated -- there is exceptional design and graphic expression in the solution
presented. |
| B... | B means good work. Project solutions have exceeded all
requirements of the project statement and show an above average depth of understanding.
The project demonstrates an above average clarity of idea, execution and presentation; or
an acceptable solution has been presented in an extraordinarily effective way. |
| C... | C means average work. The project solution adequately
satisfies the project statement but generally lacks some depth of understanding and
development. The overall project lacks initiative or innovation. Craft is just adequate. |
| D... | D means poor work. The problem solution
is weak and lacks depth, understanding and innovation. Craft is weak and
beneath class
expectations. |
| F... | F means unacceptable work. The project does not resolve
the problem statement. The work shows a lack of understanding and skill inappropriate to
this class. |
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be punished by failure on the exam, paper or project; failure in the course, and/or expulsion from the University. We are bound by university policy, and common sense, to warn you of severe consequences for very poor choices about completing work.
By registering for
courses you have implicitly agreed to be bound by the KSU honor code and policy. The
University Honor System includes the following implied pledge, "On my Honor, as
a Student I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic
work." For more information
refer to the KSU Honor System and Code
and academic dis-honesty policy.
Student academic creations are subject to Kansas State University and Kansas Board of Regents (BOR) Intellectual Property Policies. The BOR policy states: "The ownership of student works submitted in fulfillment of academic requirements shall be with the creator(s). The student, by enrolling in the institution, gives the institution a non-exclusive royalty-free license to mark on, modify, retain the work as may be required by the process of instruction, or otherwise handle the work as set out in the institution's Intellectual Property Policy or in the course syllabus. The institution shall not have the right to use work in any other manner without the written consent of the creator(s)."
"Otherwise handle," as referenced in the BOR Intellectual Property Policy, includes display of student work in various media and use for accreditation purposes. See the Kansas State University Intellectual Property Policy.
The (preliminary) semester plan includes several sequenced components.
Note that the Tree Studies project will occur during the Figure Ground Theory
Applied project due to the annual meeting of the ASLA in Chicago this year.
(look for adjustments
and refinements in the near future):
Treib, Marc. ed. Representing Landscape Architecture. New York: Taylor & Francis
Other recommended texts and journals are plentiful and generally in the library.
Some readings assigned for particular projects will be in a box (labeled LAR 220 C) in Weigel library, from which you will be able to make your own copies.
Subscribing to Landscape Architecture magazine is encouraged (especially by joining the student chapter of the ASLA).
Students are required to utilize a three-ring binder for a copy of
this course syllabus, class notes, copies of assignments, readings, etc. Additional
handouts and other material relevant to the studio will be forthcoming, which will be of
use in the distant as well as near future. The notebook should be kept in an orderly
condition, with periodic organization. Notebooks will be submitted for periodic
reviews and evaluation.
Please buy a large sketchbook (approx. 14" X 17" or 18" X 24") and a small sketchbook (perhaps 9" X 12") that you can carry with you to lectures, on field trips, on outings across the campus; perhaps you will keep it by your bedside for recording those midnight visions and inspirations; and you might fill it with doodles, diagrams, sketches, notes and drawings. We will use the sketchbook for description and analysis of particular places and spaces during the semester. Thinking on paper, in the way of research notes, visual summaries of ideas, and concept formation, and design development or elaboration of ideas will be other uses for sketchbooks.
During the semester, you should sketch in your sketchbook for at least 30 minutes at least four days a week, recording the date and duration/time of each sketch. Our objective is to get you to observe and understand objects, elements, landscapes, and your surroundings by means of regular sketching. Some of your sketches should be very quick, and others more carefully done. You determine this -- but practice, practice, practice! This can be coordinated with the Design Graphics class.
Most of the entries are likely to be black and white; but we will explore color vocabulary and relationships during the semester, too.
See the materials list.
We hope that by semester's end you will have a sense of the breadth and scope of our profession, and that you will have gained insights into creating memorable and meaningful spaces and places for human enjoyment and use. By semester's end you will have completed all quizzes, exercises and projects. Hopefully you will have also attended numerous college-sponsored events and "outside" lectures, and you will continue to develop an appreciation of the complementary relationships among the design professions. The out-of-class experiences will provide useful material for your final project, as a cumulative expression of your experience, growth and improvement during the semester. The final project should reflect the depth of learning in knowledge and skills that you have accumulated during the semester.
In sum, the work of the course varies, and the work products have values that add up to one hundred percent:
| Work Product | Value | Notes | |
| Projects | 75% | ||
| Notebook | 5% | ||
| Sketchbook | 10% | ||
| Attendance and Participation | 10% | ||
| Total: | 100% |
Outline schedule
MWF 1:30 - 5:20 pm. We will meet in SC 106c at the start of
each class, in order to "stay on the same page" as a class, unless
otherwise announced.
The webpage found with this link lists fundamental design vocabulary with which we will communicate. It is essential that you become fluent in this language. A great source, with images, for these terms and many more may be found in A Visual Dictionary of Architecture by Francis D.K. Ching (1995) New York: VNR. A copy is located in Weigel Library Reference, 323 Seaton Hall with the call number: NA31 .C44 1995. See also the Penguin Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecure, NA31 .F55 1998.
Here is a list of useful items for studio work, many of which you may already own. Buying quality items is recommended. See also Dean Law's recommended list at: http://aalto.arch.ksu.edu/dela/equip.htm
