Celebrating 50+ Years of WSU LA & the Class of 2025!

Landscape Architecture at 50 years

The Washington State University landscape architecture program established its roots on the Pullman campus in 1893 with course offerings in landscape gardening and floriculture. The first official landscape architecture faculty was hired in 1949 and a four-year program was accredited in 1973, housed within the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. A program in LA was approved by the senate in 1975, thus officially establishing a BSLA and a “landscape architecture” course prefix. In 1992 the Interdisciplinary Design Institute (IDI) was established at WSU Spokane, the BLA degree became a five-year program and students spent their fourth year of study, and optionally their fifth year, at the IDI.

In 2009, in response to that year’s national recession and economic crisis, the program reverted to a four-year program and all LA undergraduate courses were held exclusively on the Pullman campus. In 2011, the IDI was closed, and the program became part of a newly established School of Design and Construction, joining programs in Architecture, Interior Design, and Construction Management. The program was jointly administered by WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture until 2017, when the Voiland College became the single manager.

Landscape Architecture Timeline

1893
First course: Landscape Gardening and Floriculture within the College of Agriculture and Home Economics.

1949
Landscape Architecture subjects and Floriculture separated by appointment of W. S. Summers as associate professor of landscape architecture.

1965
Curriculum submitted to Pacific Northwest Chapter of ASLA for approval

1973
Landscape architecture program is accredited by the ASLA.

1975
Bachelor of science in landscape architecture approved; Course prefixes changed to landscape architecture.

1978 
Student Chapter of ASLA established at WSU.

1979
Department name changed to Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.

1980
Program relocated in expanded facilities within Johnson Hall Annex.

1982
Statewide fiscal crisis, program’s research efforts cut; Program hosts first Northwest Rendezvous as a regional gathering of landscape architects.

1985
M.S. in horticulture with emphasis in landscape architecture formally approved by department.

1990
Computers acquired to begin small LA laboratory; All faculty have computers in office for academic and research use.

1992
First students enroll in WSU Spokane Interdisciplinary Design Institute (IDI) program.

1995
The program’s proposed five-year B.L.A. degree is approved; Professional advisory board is established.

2002
College of Agriculture and Home Economics (CAHE) is changed to College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS).

2006
Two-acre parcel is given to the Hort/LA department to create a student designed and built display garden.

2008
LA program is placed on a list of programs to be discontinued if fiscal crisis deepens.

2009
In response to the fiscal crisis and to compensate for reduced faculty numbers, the landscape architecture program returns the full undergraduate program to the Pullman campus, reverts to a four-year curriculum; The IDI at WSU Spokane focuses on graduate-student-only educational programs; Last graduating class of the five-year program graduates at the same time as the first four-year program seniors.

2010
Professional advisory board meetings resume after a period of limited activity and the board advocates for the program’s continued existence; In cooperation with architecture, interior design, and construction management, the LA program submits proposal to form a School of Design and Construction.

2011
School of Design and Construction (SDC) is approved; IDI is closed and all Spokane design faculty are relocated to Pullman campus.

2012
LA program facilities are relocated to Carpenter and Daggy Halls; LA students enroll in integrated courses in design foundations, construction materials, and history; SDC advisory board established.

2013
LA students enroll in an integrated professional practice course.

2013 – 2014
New first year design foundation sequence for all LA, architecture, and interior design students begins; SDC students can certify into design majors after completing first year requirements; Computer required for all certified SDC design majors;  LA scholarship fundraiser takes place in Seattle; LA capstone presentations start to take place in Seattle; First ID/LA Portfolio Reviews in Seattle.

2015 – 2016
First LA Program Newsletter is created in cooperation with the WSU LA Professional Advisory Board (LAPAB); Job shadow experience becomes part of second year LA curriculum.

2016 – 2017
SDC Tenure and Promotion Document approved; SDC Policies approved; Fourth year fall internship and study abroad options formalized in LA curriculum.

2017 – 2018
SDC is officially administered by a single college (instead of two)– the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture (VCEA).

2018 – 2019
Articulation agreements with Lake Washington Institute of Technology and Spokane Community College established.

2019 – 2020
WSU transitioned to online education over spring break 2020 in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

2020 – 2021
Classes held via Zoom for the entire academic year in response to the COVID 19 pandemic; Students established a WSU Student Chapter of NAMLA (National Association of Minority Landscape Architects); Endowed Scholarship for Diversity in Landscape Architecture established; SDC Equity, Justice and Belonging Committee established.

2021 – 2022
In-person courses and study tours commence again.

2022 – 2023
LA Program part of new Eco-Arts and Community Engagement Certificate.

2023 – 2024
LA Minor approved.

2024
Program and Advisory Board pilot the first official WSU LAVA Days (landscape architecture visiting alumni) as a casual mid-semester event.

2025
Celebrating 50+ Years of WSU LA!