By John Koepke, head

We at the Department of Landscape Architecture have always embraced technology cautiously. There are many benefits of integrating digital tools into a design curriculum, but there are also pitfalls, namely that technology might be used as a crutch, rather than as a helping hand. Our educational goal has always been to help students find their own design voices by building their fundamental design skills. Some technology can aid in this process, and some can overshadow it. We regularly offer seminar classes on a variety of current tools, such as HydroCAD, AutoCAD, InDesign, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Google SketchUp, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and GIS-based support systems design: a means of facilitating effective public involvement and decision making.

But we don't want technology to take the place of creativity. It is critically important that we let design drive decisions on how to use technology, rather than making the computer a glorified clip-art tool or allowing features of a particular program to limit our designs. The core belief of the department, to use a music analogy, is not to teach students to play a particular instrument, but to help them learn how to bring together notes into a total composition. We feel that once someone knows how to write songs, they can write them for (and with) any instrument they choose.

That said, it seems there are exciting advances in technology almost every month, and the department will be incorporating several into the studios in the near future.

In architecture, for example, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has become an almost necessary step in the design process, especially for LEED certifications. The building site plays a critical role in several BIM factors, such as passive solar heat gain, cooling through natural shade and air currents, and water consumption. For this reason, BIM is likely to become necessary knowledge for landscape architects, and the landscape architecture department is working on ways to instruct students in this technology.

Significant improvements in virtual reality have changed the face of video games and the movies. Why not landscape architecture? Some college faculty, including Lee Anderson, Mark Swackhammer, and Renee Cheng, are experimenting with designing and evaluating designs at the Virtual Reality Lab in Walter Library through their research with the Digital Design Consortium. We hope our students will have the opportunity to try out this cutting-edge tool. The college is exploring the installation of a test unit in Rapson Hall, where students could literally walk through their designs.

We in landscape architecture feel that BIM and virtual reality are ways to bring additional resources to the wider profession of landscape architecture, both by experimenting with and refining the technologies for landscape applications, and by graduating students adept at their use. Both of these upcoming technologies will stimulate advancement, not just in design communication, but also in design itself. As it has for more than 40 years, the department will continue to teach the notes, then encourage experimentation with different instruments. We hope our landscape architecture students fall in love, not with the technology, but with the design.

From Dean Fisher

I'm pleased to announce that Lance Neckar has accepted the position as head of the Department of Landscape Architecture, effective June 9, 2008. Neckar's strong leadership, great energy, and ample administrative experience, previously as the associate dean in CALA and most recently as the interim director of the Metropolitan Design Center, will prove invaluable as the department moves forward on the strategic vision it has begun to develop this past year.

I also want to thank, publicly, the terrific work that John Koepke has done as the head of landscape architecture over the last 13 years. Koepke has led the department in a period of considerable growth and change, with a wonderful calmness, steadiness, and fair-mindedness that has made him such an effective leader. He will be on an administrative leave next academic year, giving him an opportunity to advance his research and to prepare for his return to the faculty. Please join me in both congratulating Lance and thanking John for their dedication to the greater good of the department!