Most need to maintain technical knowledge of building materials and construction technology and must be able to negotiate with contractors and owners to administrate construction and to market their services. Each must fulfill a multitude of roles, whether practicing alone or as a team member in a large multidisciplined organization. The amount of material to be covered, the fast pace of assignments, and the pressure of critical reviews by faculty and other students all combine to produce a highly-charged and energetic studio atmosphere. Landscape architects approach the design of outdoor space from a point of view similar to that which architects use to shape buildings and interior spaces. Design solutions are determined by the intended function, natural, physical, and climatological attributes, and the appropriate aesthetic character of each outdoor environment.
Projects are broad in scope and range in scale from residential to urban and regional complexity.
The School of Architecture's publication collection is housed in the Fine Arts Library, located in the Fine Arts Building. This library contains approximately 50,000 catalogued volumes relating to architecture and areas of environmental design, art, music, and other related subjects. Approximately sixty-five professional journal subscriptions are housed in the library. A collection of over seventy thousand slides and 300 videos relating to architecture, architectural history, landscape, and urban design is housed in the School's C. Murray Smart media center, which is located in Vol Walker Hall. This 210-acre botanical garden located on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, is operated by the Department of Landscape Architecture.