Areas of Concentration

Each concentration emphasizes environmental or social issues at a different  scale, from construction details and buildings to urban landscapes and regions. The SCD areas of concentration are Landscape Design and Build, Built Environment, City and Society, and Climate Change and Green Infrastructure. With approval of the Program Director, cross-scale interests may be pursued with an Independently Designed concentration. Students should decide on their Concentration by the end of their Sophomore year.

The Concentration in Built Environment (BE) allows the study of the living environment from a variety of perspectives, ranging from building techniques and architecture to the larger context of social and ecological landscapes. Architecture is a social art, thus, this concentration is as much about design theory and practice as it is about people and how their needs and ambitions can be expressed in spaces and structures. Students will study the sustainability, functionality, and beauty inherent in a well-designed building as well as the physical fabric of the city. Classes for the BE concentration emphasize studio art, architectural history, building technology, and human use of space. This concentration develops technical skills for understanding design and planning at the building scale within the framework of creating sustainable communities. Students in this concentration can go on to a wide range of design positions such as in the green building industry or pursue a graduate-level professional design degree that bridges building technology, architecture and landscape fields. BCT and architecture classes may be used toward this concentration.  This concentration also works well for students interested in the accelerated 2-year Master of Landscape Architecture, with the addition of 500-level LandArch studios in the senior year (the 4+2 program). 

The City and Society Concentration (CS) is concerned with the quality of life in neighborhoods, towns, cities, and metropolitan areas.  Closely aligned with urban planning, the CS concentration allows students to explore creative and systematic approaches to environmental, economic, and social issues affecting communities and larger regions. Sustainable communities may be created through careful economic development, control of sprawl, heritage conservation, expanded recreational and cultural opportunities, green infrastructure, improved housing, and preserved open space, not to mention political reform and environmental justice. CS concentration courses focus on social equity, human ecology, cultural vitality, economics, politics, policy, land use, and other issues related to city planning, in order to build a broad social science understanding of how cities work and how they can be influenced to better serve a broad range of sustainability goals. Students with this concentration often go to work in government agencies, consulting firms, or start their own non-profit organizations. They also continue on for a Master’s degree in planning or other related fields such as public policy and transportation planning. This concentration works well for students interested in pursuing the accelerated Master of Regional Planning (the 4+1 program).

The Climate Change and Green Infrastructure Concentration (CCGI) is concerned with large scale environmental planning and policy. This concentration focuses on the ways that cities and buildings can reduce greenhouse gasses, improve livability and resilience, and enhance ecology through building, infrastructure and planning interventions.  Students will learn how to enhance environmental quality through wise allocation of resources that mitigates, anticipates and accommodates pressures arising in rapidly changing environments and perform the delicate balancing act between development and conservation.  Concentration classes for CCGI typically relate to biodiversity, ecology, resource and environmental policy, and sustainable landscape planning and management.  Students can go to work in sustainability related professions, urban planning and design. They are well placed to attend graduate school in a wide variety of climate or design related fields. This concentration works well for students interested in pursuing the accelerated Master of Regional Planning (the 4+1 program).

The Concentration in Landscape Design and Build (LDB) is concerned with the small-scale details of building and maintaining sustainable landscapes. It allows environmentally-aware students to explore different aspects of the rapidly expanding ‘green’ industries and learn how to apply sound scientific, construction, and management principles in adding beauty to a sustainable environment. This concentration brings together scientific knowledge of plants, soils, and ecology with the theoretical and practical aspects of landscape design, construction technology and business management.  The LDB concentration serves students who want to design and build landscapes in a sustainable way.  This major provides an excellent background for those who want to go on for a Master in Landscape Architecture or go to work for design and contracting firms.  Requirements are suited to entry for students with 2-year Associates Degrees in Landscape Contracting or related fields. This concentration also works well for students interested in the accelerated 2-year Master of Landscape Architecture, with the addition of 500-level LandArch studios in the senior year (the 4+2 program).

If a SCD Major has potential professional interests situated at the intersection of the standard concentrations, that student may, in consultation with the Concentration Advisor and with the approval of the Program Director, combine LARP courses from the various standard concentrations to allow more interdisciplinary focus - e.g. cultural heritage, urban policy, transportation planning. The Independently Designed Concentration could also support applications to the 4+1 accelerated Master of Regional Planning, or to the 4+2 Master of Landscape Architecture. Students in this concentration must work closely with the Concentration Advisor.