The American Landscape Architecture Research Universe and a Higher Education Ordination: Descriptive Insights into the Discipline and Profession of Landscape Architecture

Abstract

Landscape scholars, educators, and academics are interested in the structure and nature of the knowledgebase that comprises both the discipline of landscape architecture and the profession of landscape architecture. In this study, the latent nature of the landscape architecture discipline was revealed by constructing a principal component citation analysis representation (the landscape architecture research universe) concerning several decades of literature (1982–2017) in Landscape Journal, a preeminent American journal addressing landscape architecture research. In addition, an ordination was developed describing the curriculum relationships between fifteen top American universities teaching landscape architecture as identified by ‘DesignIntelligence,’ preparing students for practicing in the profession of landscape architecture. The results revealed that in the discipline, the research activity is highly diverse along many dimensions, constantly evolving as new topics are explored. The pattern in landscape architecture research is broad, as the discipline integrates knowledge and ideas in many fields. In contrast, landscape architecture curriculums, teaching the fundamentals of the profession, are fairly closely clustered together and quite similar, with small differences reflecting emphasis in either landscape history or the visual arts, and mathematics or course electives. This dual identity is both a source of conflict and a unique opportunity.