Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
Landscape Architecture Program
History of Landscape Architecture
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE 322
Spring 2003: Colliton

Donnel Residence by Thomas Church

Course Home Page

Course Information:

Course Professor:

Dennis Colliton, FASLA

Campus Office: 102G of the AR&LA Quonset

Office Hours: 8:30-10:30 TR - walk-in or by an appointment.

Campus Phone Number : 231-8508 

E-mail: Dennis.Colliton@ndsu.nodak.edu 

Class Meeting Time:

Tuesday and Thursday 11:00am to 12:15pm

Room 204 of Ehly Hall

Course Lecture Schedule: 

Link to Comparative Analysis Assignment:

Quiz or Exam Examples

Pre-final Grades (w/o Analysis)

Description & Format:

Course Description:  

A survey of landscape architecture throughout the world. The course begins with a brief overview of the influences on the landscape by the Chinese, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. The course quickly moves to discussions and analysis of the Christian Medieval developments and the Islamic developments in Europe, Africa, and the "East". The course proceeds into the Renaissance period in Italy, France, England, and other influenced regions such as the New World, China and India. These lectures discuss the overall influences of the Renaissance along with new influences brought from the "East" involving nature and the natural process. These rapid changes are best seen in France and England at the beginning of the 18th century, but are also found throughout the world. The mid-term for the course covers early landscape architectural developments to romantic and natural influences in France and England as well as other global locations in the early to middle of the 18th Century. 

The second half of the course continues with the development of the New World Landscapes of the Americas and Far East in the 17th and 18th Centuries. Other topics will include the origins of an "American Garden Style" and the "American Park Movement" in the first part of 19th Century (including in the design and development of Central Park in New York City, Franklin Park in Boston, and Jackson Park in Chicago). The swift technological influences from Western Hemisphere, Europe, China, Japan, and the South Pacific in the late 19th Century are also 19th Century focus within the course. The course moves into the 20th Century with a series of discussions on the individuals who began the National Park Systems in the United States, South America, and Europe. The further development on city-wide open space and recreational spaces are found in this segment. The final segment of the course reviews the contemporary trends and developments in Landscape Architecture since World War II throughout the world. This is a four credit hour course.

Course Format:

The format for the course will be lecture and slide analysis from the numerous periods and cultures as described above. The course will have a mid-term and second examination (each with 100 points) along with two 30-minute quizzes (each with 50 points). A number of class exercises will be given throughout the semester ranging from 5 to 10 points - they will not be announced. A 100 point comparative analysis project will be assigned in the eighth week of the semester and due at the end of the semester. The analysis project will require each class member prepare a written/graphic/diagrammatic comparison between two historic periods. There will be a 100 point optional final analysis paper available for those wishing to improve their grade by dropping your lowest examination score on the midterm or second examination. The information tested in the first half of the semester will not be re-tested in the second half of the semester, but should be used to augment answers in the second half of the semester -- building your landscape architecture design vocabulary will be very important on the examinations.

The text for the course:

Design of the Land, The Development of Landscape Architecture, by Norman T. Newton.

Landscape Architecture major (and other class members) should also to purchase:

Landscape Architecture, An Illustrated History in Timelines, Site Plans, and Biography, by William A. Mann. Optional reserve readings may be available for interested students in the AR&LA Library. 

Course Objectives:

·         To clearly understand the broad interrelationship between numerous civilizations and their land;

·         To introduce the major design accomplishments, as well as negative attainments, that civilizations have had on the global landscape;

·         To provide a simplified overview of the political and socio-economic conflicts 
which have changed design influences and tastes throughout the historic periods;

·         To offer an introduction to historical research and analysis techniques; and

·         To offer a global view of the influences associated with the profession of 
Landscape Architecture

Course Evaluation:
 

Course Credits and Student Responsibilities:  

Please remember this is a four credit course which will involve approximately 50 to 75 pages of reading each week throughout the semester. It is also a lecture format based primarily on visual design issues making class attendance extremely important. The slide format of various world locations is one of the few ways these visual comparisons can be made by the students of the class. The slides are used only during class and not presented in other formats. The reading assignments will parallel the lecture material but will not be identical, so class observation and discussion is very useful in the explanation of most examination questions. I highly recommend class attendance.

Course Policies:  Expected student behavior--participation, attendance, adherence to assignment  due dates, lab safety/health, grading procedures and grade distribution scale, understanding the description and intent of all assignments/exercises/projects

Additional Information:  An electronic assignment system and discussion groups will be used in this course. It will include posting of assignments to a network location.

Special Needs:  Any student with disabilities or other special needs, who needs special accommodations in this course, are invited to share these concerns or requests with me as soon as possible.

Academic Dishonesty or Misconduct:  Work in this course must adhere to the Code of Academic Responsibility and Conduct as cited in "Rights & Responsibilities of Community: A Code of Student Conduct" (1993) pp. 29-30. "The academic community is operated on that basis of honesty, integrity, and fair play. Occasionally, this trust is violated when cheating occurs, either inadvertently or deliberately..... Faculty members may fail the student for the particular assignment, test, or course involved, or they may recommend that the student drop the course in question, or these penalties may be varied with the gravity of the offense and the circumstances of the particular case." Academic dishonesty can be divided into four categories and defined as follows: 

o        Cheating: Intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or study aids in any academic exercise. 

o        Fabrication: Intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.  

o        Facilitating academic dishonesty: Intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of academic dishonesty. 

o        Plagiarism: Intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another, as one's own in any academic exercise. 

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