Anywhere you look probably includes a design from a landscape architect. Places like New York City’s Central Park, Chicago’s Riverwalk, and Philadelphia’s LOVE Park were all designed by landscape architects. Landscape architecture is the art and science of incorporating natural themes to aesthetically design outdoor areas. The main goal of a landscape architect is to enhance the natural beauty of an area while providing sustainable environmental benefits to the community.

While the product of landscape architects is outdoors, most of their work is done in the office. The process of designing a park, campus, or private backyard requires intelligent design efforts from the entire team. Not only do landscape architects create a beautiful scenery, but they also make the area environmentally friendly. Landscape architects use several different tools during their design process.
To document and analyze a project area, landscape architects often use digital cameras to capture images of terrain. Pictures provide a visual of what landscape architects have to work around to create an environmentally friendly recreational area. From the pictures, landscape architects can determine what areas receive the optimal amount of sunlight for the client’s best interests. Areas that receive plenty of sunlight may have shade trees added to them.

Landscape architects also use digital software to organize their plan for a project. A layout of the project area may be created on the computer to provide a clear visual of the area’s prominent environmental features. A 3D model of the project may be constructed to brainstorm a working design, craft a beautiful asset, or show any environmental challenges.

Landscape architects typically don’t work on one specific area of planning and designing. They are versatile which gives them a wide variety of project options. A few of the many jobs that landscape architects conduct includes:

• Urban Design and Site Planning
• Storm Water Management
• Parks and Recreation Planning
• Green Infrastructure Planning
• Private Estate Master Planning and Design

The demand for landscape architects is growing at a rapid pace in the United States. According to the National Endowment for the Arts , landscape architecture services in the United States are valued at $2.3 billion. Not only is this industry impacting economic growth, it is helping struggling markets. Demonstrations have proven that areas with unkempt urban designs have economically benefited from landscape architecture. Landscape architecture can raise property value and attract more tourists to a business area.

CEDARVILLE works on several landscape architecture projects that significantly benefit the community in various ways. Call us at 610-705-4500 or email info@cedarvilleeng.com to find out more.

By: J. Auerbach