The profession

Landscape architecture is the profession of arranging the features of a landscape, by landscape planning, modifying, construction and management. Landscape architects enhance the quality of life, by creating beauty and also by solving the environmental issues.

During the baroque period, Le Notre considered himself a “landscape architect”, but it is only in 1867 in America that this profession was named “landscape architecture”. The term “landscape architect” was made official by Frederick Olmsted, an American known as the creator of the Central Park in New York. Before that, the profession traced its way through the works of the famous European landscape designers, such as Capability Brown, who planned the landscapes of many English holdings in the 18th century and Andre Le Notre, garden designer in Versailles. The examples of early landscape architecture are the hanging gardens of Babylon, Egyptian gardens, Ancient gardens, Chinese gardens, etc.

Today landscape architects can create public parks, squares, green spaces and recreation spaces, home gardens, gardens in business quarters, etc., but they can also take part in the creation of land use policy for the entire region. Their task ranges from managing small spaces such as an urban garden to managing the systems of open spaces of the entire city, as well as large National Parks or tourist districts.