Our program philosophy is that the art of landscape architecture is not complete without the act of building and that through their involvement in both design and construction, students develop a balance between the conceptualizing and the making of their design. They gain an understanding of the design process as circular, from idea, to building and back to idea. The program, developed in 1995 by Associate Professor Daniel Winterbottom is offered to undergraduate and graduate students in landscape architecture and related fields. First, it provides an alternative design process, in which thinking and making are integrated as interrelated components. Second, the resulting project provides an amenity for a community in need.
Students become a team, bringing ideas to fruition, cooperatively in the shared act of building.
Communication skills are honed and tested through client and community interaction. In this applied teaching model, we provide a critical link between design, building and service learning. We strive to advance a common societal goal, the improvement of our ecological and social environment. All our clients are community groups, and students must work with community members to complete the project, and expose the students to people of vastly different experiences, talents, ages, and often cultures. In an attempt to make our projects meaningful to the communities with whom we work, we have developed an inclusive participatory design process in which community members participate in the conceptualizing and design processes, to create places that are meaningful to all users.