We offer a new two-year Master’s program in Landscape Architecture at the Department of Architecture of ETH Zurich with a focus on the design and planning of open spaces and landscapes. This Master’s program in Landscape Architecture, initiated by Prof. Teresa Galí-Izard, Prof. Christophe Girot and Prof. Günther Vogt, is the first and only such program in Switzerland.
The environmental and aesthetic challenges of the 21st century call for a new design intelligence in landscape architecture. Our aim is to train a new generation of designers, planners and decision-makers in the private sector and public institutions, combining the expertise of landscape architecture with that of architecture. Our graduates have a novel profile, with which they open new and classic fields of activity in landscape architecture worldwide. They develop and implement projects at various scales, from object design to conceptual specialist planning. They operate across complex spatial systems and under dynamic existing conditions – and develop aesthetically, scientific and technically sophisticated solutions for the design of cities and landscapes.
The two-year Master’s program in Landscape Architecture teaches students design and planning, materials and construction, natural science and humanities skills in landscape architecture, which optimally deepen and supplement the university Bachelor’s program in architecture. They learn to apply theories, methods, techniques and operative tools of landscape architecture in analysis, design and planning in a target-oriented and responsible manner. The program will prepare the students for reality – imaginatively addressing the landscape and bridging values.
The education combines classical competences – the “handcraft” of landscape architecture – with a high degree of innovation. This includes the consideration of the site-specific existing conditions of a location as well as an aesthetically, technically and ecologically founded design practice with living elements of nature such as plants, soil and water, and abiotic building materials. Emphasis is placed on conveying cultural, social, poetic and ethical skills. The teaching of innovative digital analysis, design and planning methods is an essential part of the program.
The program includes fundamental, core and specialized courses, design studios and a six-month internship. A central principle of the training is the content-related and methodological linking of subject-specific teaching contents with one another, and their integration into the design studios. We offer a modular focus semester, which links the fundamental courses with the design lessons and creates the basis for the following semesters. The design studios deal with problem- and practice-related tasks at local, regional, supra-regional, national and international scales. The program structure provides for group learning and allows for individual customization, while admission of a maximum of 18 participants per-year guarantees individual supervision, thus enabling a very high quality of professional education.
Profile
The only Master’s program in landscape architecture at a Swiss university
Knowledge and skills in landscape architecture that optimally deepen and complement the university bachelor’s degree in architecture
The limited number of participants guarantees individual supervision and thus a very high professional quality of the training
Linking subject-specific teaching content with each other in terms of content and methodology and integrating it into the design studios
Focus semester: modular first semester, which links the contents of the fundamental courses with the design lessons and creates the basis for the following semesters
Weekly field trips, 30 % of the teaching takes place outside
Imparting of innovative digital analysis, design and planning methods (GIS-based 3D landscape visualization and modeling / LVML, Landscape Acoustics / AV-Lab etc.)
