Dutch Landscape: Design Studio

In the design course you formulate your own assignment within a defined challenge, in which different scales and perspectives come together: water issues and the social structure of a rural society and ongoing spatial claims (like farming, energy production, recreation, nature development) on the scale of a polder landscape.

The aim of the design is to explore the transition of landscape as a means of adapting and giving expression to existing landscape patterns, leading to new landscape architectural (spatial and experiential) compositions in which beauty, landscape processes, functionality and inclusiveness (of people, animals and plants) coincide.

You will design through scales from concept to detail, with an understanding of the area of influence, area of effect and area of control. The design is based on a landscape analysis, understanding the spatial structure and patterns, which should lead to a spatial composition for an imaginable future, allowing for and anticipating on social and ecological processes. You learn how to design through time: from past relevant periods to new conditions for a desired future, according to the assignment that is defined and developed by yourself.

• booklet and/or posters

• physical models

• oral presentation

• written reflection on design

The design project is awarded a grade that is a whole or half number between 1.0 and 10.0. Students pass the course with a 6.0 or higher. With a grade below 6.0: students who presented assessable work during the course are allowed to do a repair to change the grade into a ‘pass’. The repair is unsupervised and needs to be completed within two weeks after the end of the course. For students with a grade below 5.0 a repair is not advised, because the chance of success is low.

When the repair is unsuccessful, the student needs to follow the entire course again. In this case we offer students the opportunity to retake the course during the summer period to avoid substantial delay in the study, since the Landscape Architecture track offers all courses of MSc1 and MSc2 only once per year. The student needs to contact the course coordinator in June to start planning for tutoring during the summer break.