Case Studies in Community-University Partnerships: Department of Landscape Architecture

This case study describes landscape design projects undertaken by landscape architecture faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students at the University of Washington in conjunction with a number of public agencies and community groups. What lessons might these projects offer others considering working with community groups? Over two hundred years ago Horace Walpole famously observed that William Kent - an early exponent of the English Landscape School - had 'leapt the fence and saw that all nature was a garden.' Today, by leaping academia's enclosing fences we discover that 'all the world is a classroom.' What this means for professional design education is that academic strengths may be enhanced by 'real world' projects. To reach real design conclusions there is no substitute for real sites, real clients, and real interactions. What leaping the academic fence may offer other disciplines is there to be discovered in communities across the country and around world.