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College of Design

Department of Landscape Architecture

Professor critiquing landscape architecture student project.

Reinventing relationships among people, land, and technology

  • 96%

    of 2023 graduates are employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.

Landscape architecture involves the planning, design, management, and nurturing of the natural and built environments. Landscape Architects work to improve human and environmental health in all communities using cutting-edge technologies and resilient nature-based solutions.

The Department of Landscape Architecture at Iowa State University is a nationally ranked and internationally recognized program that helps students change the world by re-imagining and re-shaping the landscape to enhance its ecological health, its cultural significance, and its social relevance.

Our landscape architecture program is distinctive in its strong commitment to learning outside of the classroom through traveling and off-campus studios, as well as learning design through community engagement.

Degree programs

Iowa State’s undergraduate Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) degree and  Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA) degree are nationally accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board of the American Society of Landscape Architects. The BLA program received a full six-year accreditation in Spring 2020 and will be reviewed again in Spring 2026.

Savanna Studio Students

Savanna Studio

The Traveling Savanna Studio is a unique feature of Iowa State’s Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program, serving as both a foundational experience within the curriculum and as a learning community for all sophomore landscape architecture students who have been accepted into the program.

Recent Student Work

Safe Haven District Boards

Paul Larson

LA 402

The Community Academy

Cooper Larsen & Jack Staiger

LA 302, Fall 2022

Wilton Park

LA 302

One thing I enjoyed the most about the landscape architecture program at Iowa State was the Savanna Studio trips. These trips not only introduced me to many different landscapes around the U.S. but also allowed me to get to know my classmates better than another major would have.

Alex Aranas – Landscape Architecture, Class of 2025

Success in design

Students in the College of Design graduate career-ready with internships, capstone projects, professional practice, and portfolio classes integrated into each of the design programs, and with support from the Design Career Services Office. The College of Design also hosts an annual Design Career Fair that is focused only on design majors. It attracts more than 125 firms recruiting for jobs and internships, with College of Design alumni making up more than half of the recruiters in attendance.

As the 7th “Most Hired From” landscape architecture program in the country with 100% of our 2021-2022 graduates employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation, our students are in high demand. Some recent graduates of Iowa State’s landscape architecture program have pursued careers in the following:

  • Campus planning and design
  • Construction management
  • Contract supervision
  • Ecological restoration
  • Environmental art
  • Environmental interpretation and signage
  • Greenway and corridor planning and design
  • Historic preservation
  • Interior landscape design
  • Land trust management
  • Natural and cultural park planning, design, and resource management
  • Residential and commercial design and development
  • Transportation/roadside planning and design

Student resources and opportunities

Undergraduate landscape architecture student presenting project during critique.

A Landscape Architect in the Making

Find your place at Iowa State University’s College of Design, where we like to ask questions, poke and prod, create something new, and make a difference through design.