The role of landscape architecture in urban design education: design studios from Korea University and Harvard University

Landscape architecture today enjoys greater potential for educational interchange with other design fields such as urban design and architecture than at any time in its history. As a design medium that positively contributes to the complexities of the contemporary city and to a more equitable distribution of ecological and environmental resources, landscape architecture in urban design education is examined through its role in the creation of civic spaces and their natural and built urban character. Case studies are introduced that explore two joint design studies in urban design led jointly by the author and Professor Kim Seiyong with students from Korea University and Harvard University Graduate School of Design. A main urban district undergoing rapid transformation in Seoul, Republic of Korea, forms the study area, where opportunities for integration of landscape architecture and urban design medium, methods and expression are explored through student projects in a range of localised, natural and constructed site conditions.