Architecture Degrees Online

Entry Requirements
An average tarriff point offer is likely to be 230, including a minimum of two subjects at A2 or equivalent.

Mature students without formal qualifications will be considered individually.

Applicants for this course will be invited to present a portfolio to demonstrate their design ability.

Careers
The course is fully recognised and accredited by The Landscape Institute. Landscape architects are employed in a wide range of national, private and public practices in this country and abroad. Successful candidates can also pursue environmental design based careers in related fields, such as landscape management or landscape planning.

Students who graduate from the course at the appropriate level have access to Birmingham City University’s Postgraduate Diploma course in Landscape Architecture, which provides access to graduate membership of The Landscape Institute, the profession’s governing body.

Spesialisation requirements
The first two years (120 credits) are compulsory and the same for all students in the study programme. In this part of the programme, a one-week obligatory job placement is included in the course LAA113 (Introduction to Landscape Architecture II). In the next three years (180 credits), the students choose between three specialisations. The specialisation Design and Detail Project Planning consists of 80 compulsory credits, 70 elective credits and a Master\’s thesis of 30 credits. The specialisation Superior Landscape Planning consists of 75 compulsory credits, 75 elective credits and a Master\’s thesis of 30 credits. The specialisation Urban Green Space and Landscape Management consists of 90 compulsory credits, 60 elective credits and a Master\’s thesis of 30 credits. In all the three specialisations, a compulsory specialisation course at the 300 level is included in the fifth academic year that is directed towards the respective specialisation and where the purpose is to gather all the academic threads. The elective part should primarily consist of courses in landscape architecture or courses particularly relevant to the specialisation course in the chosen specialisation. The compulsory courses that are included in the first and second part of the programme are specified in the Internet version of the curriculum.

Student advising
The academic staff and the student adviser are responsible for providing guidance in relation to courses, project assignments and Master\’s thesis, and in addition, the following advisory channels have been established: Several information meetings for the students are held each year: Information meetings at the beginning of a new academic year, information meeting about study periods abroad, information meeting at the beginning of the spring semester, information meeting for postgraduates, information meeting about choice of topic for the Master\’s thesis, information meeting about choice of specialisation, and other information meetings when necessary.

Evaluation
The teachers in the study programme have staff meetings regularly where the programme\’s content and profile are discussed. Each semester, day-long staff meetings are also arranged where specific courses in the study programme are discussed. Staff meetings are also arranged at the end of each semester where study techniques and experiences from recent courses are discussed and evaluated by the teachers in plenary. Time is set aside for mid-semester evaluations by the students. These are used to adjust the direction of the course. External examiners from the profession are some of our most important correctives when it comes to teaching. Once a year, meetings with the board in the Norwegian Association of Landscape Architectures are held to discuss the study programme.

Related studies
The study programmes jas certain common features with Spatial Planning because they work with the same plan levels. The differences are that Landscape Architecture emphasises the physical design, while Spatial Planning focuses more on the implementation aspects and means, for instance from a legal perspective. The specialisation Green Space and Landscape Management will have some common features with the study programme Plant Sciences (with specialisation in Green areas and Horticulture science) since both emphasise management, maintenance and plant science. The differences are that Landscape Architecture focuses on the aesthetic and functional aspects, while Gardening and Horticulture Science will be more biologically orientated.

Learning goals
The students are to know how to project, plan and manage both the urban and the rural landscape in accordance with the intentions in the European Landscape Convention. They should also know how to register and analyse the human-created and natural conditions as a basis for this work. They shall know how to formulate problems for discussion, prepare programmes and concepts and suggest solutions. They are also to be able to understand and plan changes in the town and the landscape, such as town improvement, urban renewal, placing of buildings and roads in the landscape and development of the cultural landscape through maintenance and management. The suggestions shall meet functional, aesthetic, social, legal, ecological and economic requirements. The students should also be able to cooperate with others, outside of the academic limits and with the general public. It is stressed that the students shall develop the ability to independently consider the academic challenges, and to pass their ideas on in an understandable way that reveals the consequences.

Teaching and evaluation methods
The aim of the programme is for the students to acquire most of the understanding and knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary to become a landscape architect. Therefore, the programme emphasises to a large extent project- and problem-based work as close up to reality as possible. Students shall solve concrete design or planning assignments. Since both independence and cooperation skills are emphasised, the students work both individually and in groups. Much time is put aside for supervision individually and in groups. The lectures and the projects are linked, but topics that give a wider theoretic, social and historical understanding are also emphasised. To practice the three-dimensional and artistic understanding, the students work on free-hand drawing and design in different scales and different materials. When doing this, they use both modelling workshops and computer labs. IKT (information and communication technology) is a central tool for landscape architects, and is used both to visualise projects and as a project tool. The landscape and the people living and working there, either in urban or rural areas, are the basis for the landscape architect\’s work. The education therefore emphasises field work and excursions both in Norway and in other countries.The examination is either based on final examinations (independent work or written examination) or continuous assessment (project work or local written examination). The examiners are used in two ways: 1. To evaluate each students examination work and 2. To evaluate the course. When a course starts up, the students will be given an overview over the basis for evaluation that is made especially for each course according to the grading scale A-F or passed/failed. In planning and project courses, plus in design and drawing courses, so-called mid-semester and final evaluations are arranged where the students in plenary get feedback on their work. When necessary and required, an examiner is present at the evaluation.