Postgraduate Course: Situating landscape architectural theory (ARCH11272)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Situating Landscape Architectural Theory is a theory course aimed at developing a deep understanding of the complexity, scope and diversity of landscape architecture. The course aims to establish a common theoretical grounding by bringing together sociopolitical, environmental, cultural and conceptual concerns of the discipline. It assists students in identifying their theoretical interests and in articulating and discussing these within a collective setting. Through a mix of lectures, seminars, tutorials and writing labs, students will sharpen their ability to think with concepts, leading to the development of an individual reflection on the theoretical context of landscape architecture, and its relationship with practice. |
| Course description |
This seminar-based course will explore a number of contemporary landscape architectural theoretical concerns that come into view when landscape architecture is situated within its conditions of production. Approaching landscape through the lens of process/image/power/site/experience etc., the course will interrogate the relationship between landscape architectural discourse and design practice, and their entanglement with wider socio-economic and climate realities. It will cover topics such as care and maintenance, land and labour, infrastructural, technological and material flows, more-than-human geographies, landscape¿s sociopolitical potentials and the necessary conceptual realignments for thinking and practising landscape architecture otherwise. By placing emphasis on critical and conceptual thinking, the course will encourage students to examine and clarify the theoretical implications of their contributions to landscape architecture, both as a practice and a discourse. As such, it will serve as a launching pad for individual explorations in which students form an informed theoretical position within the context of landscape architecture.
The students will be expected to come to class prepared for debate and informed discussion by having read the assigned material in advance. They will be required¿to articulate their own responses to critical texts, to engage with concepts as thinking tools, to develop a structured approach to the analysis of landscape theory, and to author an original essay on a topic of choice.
The course will be delivered through lectures, seminars, individual tutorials and writing labs. Lectures (1h) will be delivered by both the course organiser and invited guests. These will be followed by 2h seminars, allowing time for discussion around key ideas. Two approx. 20-minute individual tutorials and two approx. 3h-long writing labs (workshops) will support each student in the development of their summative assessments.¿
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This Course does not require additional costs to be met by the Student.
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Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 70 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 9,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 15,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 6,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
165 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 3 components of assessment.
Concept Presentation, 7 min, 20%, weeks 5-7, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3. All Learning Outcomes are weighted equally. Extensions or late submissions are not permitted.
Essay Presentation/Discussion, 15 min, 20%, weeks 10-11, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3. All Learning Outcomes are weighted equally. Extensions or late submissions are not permitted.
Essay, 2000 ¿ 2500 words, 60%, December Exam diet, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3. All Learning Outcomes are weighted equally.
Further information:
Concept Presentation: This is an opportunity for students to share their conceptual interests and clarify the proposed theoretical framework of their research. Students will receive guidance on their essay abstract and provisional conceptual framework during an individual tutorial (week 3-5).
Essay Presentation/Discussion: This will be an opportunity for students to present their writing process and preliminary findings to an audience. To help students gain confidence in engaging in conversation and articulating their arguments, we will use weekly seminars as spaces of active listening and lively debate.
Essay: This is a longer format written exercise, to be completed to academic standards and using correct citational practice. Students will receive guidance and peer feedback on their Essay framing and writing by applying their Concept Presentation¿s summative feedback, by taking part in an individual Essay tutorial (week 8-10) and by participating in two writing labs (workshops) in the latter part of the semester.
Learning Outcome Breakdown:
Learning Outcome 1 = 33%, Learning Outcome 2 = 33%, Learning Outcome 3 = 34%
Alignment of components with Learning Outcomes: Students must meet all Learning Outcomes in order to pass this course.
Resubmission Information
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
The resit task for assessment component 1 is an online Concept Presentation, 7 min, 20%, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
The resit task for assessment component 2 is an online Essay Presentation/Discussion, 15 min, 20%, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
The resit task for assessment component 3 is Essay, 2000 ¿ 2500 words, 60%, assessed against Learning Outcomes 1, 2 and 3.
Students will submit to the original assessment brief.¿The Learning Outcome Breakdown is the same for all components: Learning Outcome 1 = 33%, Learning Outcome 2 = 33%, Learning Outcome 3 = 34%.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative:
Two separate 20-min individual tutorials by the course organiser/tutor will provide verbal feedback feeding into the student¿s developing summative assessments (Concept Presentation tutorial in week 3-5 and Essay tutorial in week 8-10). The student¿s work-in-progress will be presented to the tutor on the day and discussed in a one-to-one tutorial. In addition, students will receive guidance and peer feedback on their Essay writing by participating in two writing labs (workshops) in the latter part of the semester (weeks 7-9).
Summative:
Written summative feedback will be provided by the course organiser/tutor for all summative assessment components. The Concept Presentation submission will be timed to allow the student to receive direction and feedback on the conceptual framing and the proposed direction of their research ahead of their Essay Presentation/Discussion and final Essay submission. In addition, the student will receive verbal feedback on their work-in-progress on the day of their Concept Presentation and Essay Presentation/Discussion.
Summative feedback will be provided according to University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge of contemporary landscape design theories, concepts, and principles and how these inform the discipline's research and practice.
- Critically analyse and creatively contextualise landscape architectural theory within contemporary social, cultural, environmental and ethical perspectives.
- Persuasively communicate individual research process and line of argument, using skills of precise, engaging and rigorous academic communication.
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Reading List
Battistoni, Alyssa. Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2025.
Hutton, Jane, ed. Material Culture: Assembling and Disassembling Landscapes (Landscript 5). Berlin: Jovis, 2017.
Meyer, Elizabeth K. ¿The Expanded Field of Landscape Architecture¿. In Ecological Design and Planning, edited by George F. Thompson and Frederick R. Steiner, 45¿79. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 1988.
Wall, Ed, and Tim Waterman, eds. Landscape and Agency: Critical Essays. London: Routledge, 2018.
Wilson, John. Thinking with Concepts. London: Cambridge University Press, 1963.
Wylie, John. Landscape. London: Routledge, 2007. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry: By following your curiosity and engaging in conceptual thinking, you will deepen your critical understandings of the relationship between landscape theory and practice, learn to ask pertinent questions and build on your pre-existing theoretical frameworks.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy: By taking control of your own theoretical investigations and by reflecting on your arguments and decision-making through discussion, you will build confidence in your own work, practice collaboration skills and increase your fluency in assessment criteria.
Communication: By participating in seminar discussions with tutors and peers and by using visual, verbal and written means to articulate complex ideas, you will improve your ability of clear, concise and persuasive communication. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
Lecture Hours: 9
Seminar/Tutorial Hours: 15
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours: 6
Feedback/Feedforward Hours: 1
Summative Assessment Hours: 2
Programme-Level Learning and Teaching Hours: 4
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours: 165
Total Hours: 200 |
| Keywords | landscape architecture design,research,theory,practice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Barbara Prezelj
Tel:
Email: bprezelj@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Hancock
Tel: (0131 6)50 4124
Email: chancock@ed.ac.uk |
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