Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism

3 Years On Campus Masters Program

University of Southern California

Program Overview

he Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism at the University of Southern California is a three-year professional program that uses Southern California as a living laboratory to explore landscape systems, urbanization, climate change, social and environmental justice, and the relationship between nature, technology, and the built environment. It suits students seeking an intensive design-research education, combining landscape architecture, urbanism, ecological thinking, construction, digital media, and advanced design research to address complex environmental and urban challenges.

Curriculum Structure

Year 1: The first year establishes core landscape design and ecological thinking through studio-based learning. Students develop foundational design skills through ARCH 541aL Landscape Architecture Design, ARCH 541bL Landscape Architecture Design, and supporting subjects such as ARCH 531 Urban Ecology, building an understanding of landscape systems, place, environmental processes, and design methods.

Year 2: The second year moves toward more sophisticated relationships between landscape, urban systems, construction, and representation. Students progress through ARCH 542aL Landscape Architecture Design, ARCH 542bL Landscape Architecture Design, ARCH 534 Landscape Construction: Topographic Design, and ARCH 535 Landscape Construction: Performance Approaches, strengthening their ability to translate landscape concepts into technically and environmentally responsive interventions.

Year 3: The final year emphasizes advanced urban landscape thinking and independent design research, preparing students to tackle large-scale and complex contemporary challenges. ARCH 642L Landscape Architecture Design, ARCH 544 Landscape as Urbanism: Case Studies, and ARCH 698aL/698bL Advanced Design-Research allow students to integrate design, urbanism, ecological systems, research, and professional-level project development.

Focus areas: Landscape architecture design, urbanism, urban ecology, climate resilience, ecological systems, public space, landscape construction, planting, digital media, GIS, community-based design, conservation and planning, advanced design research, and the relationship between landscape and urban infrastructure.

Learning outcomes: Students develop the ability to use design research to respond to environmental and social challenges, work across multiple spatial scales, integrate ecological and technological systems, and create more resilient, equitable, and socially and ecologically responsive landscapes, cities, infrastructures, and public spaces.

Professional alignment: The program is recognized by USC as meeting educational requirements for landscape architecture licensure in numerous U.S. states, including California, New York, Texas, Washington, and others; USC also provides a dedicated LAAB Accreditation resource for the program.

Reputation: USC School of Architecture states that its intensive graduate curricula combine history, theory, technology, and design and have developed a reputation for preparing leaders in professional design fields; USC's official program materials emphasize the school's strong professional orientation and the Graduate Program's engagement with contemporary environmental and urban challenges.

Experiential Learning (Research, Projects, Internships etc.)

The Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism at the University of Southern California is strongly practice-oriented, using Southern California itself as a living laboratory for investigating climate change, urbanization, environmental justice, ecological systems, and public-space design. Students develop practical design-research skills through intensive landscape studios, advanced design research, construction and planting courses, and projects that connect ecological analysis with real urban conditions. USC’s program also gives students access to Watt Hall studios, digital fabrication resources, the Architecture & Fine Arts Library, and interdisciplinary research environments.

Design studios: Students work through successive landscape architecture studios, including ARCH 541aL, ARCH 541bL, ARCH 542aL, ARCH 542bL and ARCH 642L, developing proposals at different scales and working with real sites and environmental conditions.
Advanced design research: ARCH 698bL Advanced Design-Research Studio allows students to investigate social, environmental and health-related issues through speculative design proposals, including climate resilience responses to extreme heat, drought and wildfire.
Construction & planting: Courses such as Landscape Construction: Topographic Design, Landscape Construction: Performance Approaches, Plant Ecology + Identification and Planting Design give students hands-on understanding of landscape materials, construction, ecological systems and planting strategies.
Digital fabrication: USC School of Architecture has dedicated digital fabrication staff and technicians, supporting students in developing physical and digitally fabricated design work; the School also maintains a woodshop and fabrication facilities within the Watt Hall complex.
Physical modelling: The School’s fabrication environment supports the translation of design concepts into physical prototypes and models, complementing the program’s studio-based approach to landscape design.
Spatial technologies: Students can engage with USC’s interdisciplinary Spatial Sciences Institute, while landscape research at USC has incorporated GIS, physical hydraulic modelling, robotic fabrication and augmented reality to investigate landscape and civic infrastructure.
Real-world projects: USC landscape architecture students have participated in applied projects such as the USC Peace Garden, where MLA+U students have worked on site design, planting, irrigation, community workshops and the transition from design toward construction.
Field-based research: The program treats the complex regional geography of Southern California as its primary laboratory, allowing students to study real urban, ecological and infrastructural conditions rather than working only with hypothetical sites.
Research institutes: Students can connect with research initiatives such as the Landscape Futures Lab, which brings together landscape architecture, environmental systems, resilient design and interdisciplinary research.
Architecture & Fine Arts Library: Located in Watt Hall, the Architecture & Fine Arts Library provides more than 75,000 books and journals covering architecture, art history and fine arts, along with rare titles, artists’ books and architectural/public-art archival collections.
Collaborative learning: Studio teaching is conducted in dedicated workspaces, with the first-year ARCH 541a Introduction to Landscape Design Studio held in the Watt Hall studios and structured around intensive studio and laboratory sessions.
Student exhibitions: Student work is presented through USC Architecture showcases such as XPO, which includes final thesis projects from Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism students and gives students an opportunity to publicly present their completed design research.

Progression & Future Opportunities

The Master of Landscape Architecture + Urbanism at the University of Southern California prepares graduates to work across landscape architecture, urbanism, ecological design, and resilient public-space development, using Southern California as a living laboratory for climate change, urbanization, environmental justice, and landscape infrastructure. The program combines design, research, practice, and lived experience, giving graduates the flexibility to pursue professional landscape architecture as well as interdisciplinary careers in urban and environmental design.

Typical job roles: Landscape Architect, Landscape Designer, Urban Designer, Environmental/Resilience Designer: graduates can apply their design-research skills across landscapes, cities, public spaces, infrastructure, and ecological systems.

Career services: USC provides access to the Career Center and Handshake, while the School of Architecture connects students with career-development opportunities, professional events, alumni networks, and practicing professionals. The MLA+U program also exposes students to active professional practice through faculty and practitioners working across landscape architecture, planning, and urban design.
Employment statistics: USC's publicly available first-destination data include Landscape Architecture within its Architecture and Related Services reporting. For the reported 2018 landscape-architecture bachelor's cohort, USC recorded an 81.8% career-outcomes percentage and 61.6% employed overall; a current MLA+U-specific employment percentage is not stated on the official sources reviewed, so no unrelated graduate statistic is presented as a master's outcome.
Salary figures: USC's official sources reviewed do not publish a current MLA+U graduate median or average salary. As an indication of professional-market opportunities, a USC School of Architecture landscape-architecture lecturer position listed a $48–$66.41 per hour salary range, but this is an employment posting rather than a graduate salary statistic.
University–industry partnerships: Students gain exposure to real-world projects through USC's Urban Trees Initiative, which involves USC interdisciplinary researchers and partnerships with the City of Los Angeles to develop an urban forest around the USC Health Sciences campus. MLA+U students have also participated in community-based design-research projects involving organizations and agencies working in Los Angeles' Skid Row community.
Professional accreditation: The three-year first-professional MLA curriculum is LAAB-accredited, providing important long-term professional value for students pursuing landscape architecture practice. USC's licensure information states that the MLA+U educational requirements meet landscape-architecture licensure requirements across the listed U.S. states and jurisdictions.
Graduation outcomes: Graduates have progressed into professional landscape-design roles and advanced academic study. For example, USC identifies an MLA+U graduate working as a Landscape Designer at KAA Design Group, while another MLA+U graduate is pursuing a PhD in Geography, Planning, and Design at the University of Colorado Denver.
Interdisciplinary opportunities: USC offers a highly integrated Master of Landscape Architecture/Master of Urban Planning pathway, allowing qualified students to combine landscape architecture with urban planning in a five-to-seven-semester program.
Professional exposure: The program's curriculum includes advanced design-research, studios, urban ecology, landscape construction, GIS, community-based design, and other applied areas, helping students develop capabilities relevant to contemporary landscape and urban-design practice.

Further Academic Progression: After completing the MLA+U, students can deepen their specialization through USC's Master of Landscape Architecture/Master of Urban Planning dual-degree pathway, combining landscape design with planning, policy, economics, law, data, and public-sector practice. Students can also pursue the Master of Heritage Conservation/Master of Landscape Architecture pathway or move into doctoral-level research in related fields where available, building toward careers in advanced research, teaching, design leadership, and interdisciplinary environmental practice.