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ARTICLES: Landscape ArchitectureLandscape architecture is a misunderstood profession. Most people think the landscape architect is a very expensive plant material installer, but that is far from the truth. The landscape architect must spend five years getting a very difficult and technical degree from a university entailing design, and engineering, do an internship and then pass a rigorous examination to get a license to practice. Landscape architects design large scale projects for conservation projects that can reclaim inner city blighted areas or analyze a site and plan for preservation and future management. They designers and engineers for large scale projects that involve studying how the wind whips around buildings, where sidewalks should be, where to put public art and even where signage needs to go and how big it should be.The landscape architect is always involved in park and playground design, historic preservation and post disaster planning. In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the landscape architect is one of the most important people in the repeopling projects. Because the population is halved, the city must be smaller, so the landscape architect figures out how to make it work. How can the city be rebuilt so it is greener, more friendly to business and homes being closer together? This is the purview of landscape architecture.Not only is landscape architecture involved in large scale projects, but if you are buying or building a new house, you may use a landscape architect to design your driveway, your swimming pool and your garden. He will work closely with you to decide what fits your lifestyle best. You buy the plans he draws. He may do the installation, but you can take the plans you bought from him and shop them around to landscape contractors for more estimates.
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