(Part 2) Top products from r/LandscapeArchitecture

Great question, and great idea! Off the top of my head:


The Basics

Landscape Architect's Portable Handbook - This one does get a bit technical, but it's a good guide.


Sociology/Psychology

Social Life of Small Urban Spaces - Just a good book about how people experience spaces

Design with People in Mind - An older film, but a classic. Funny and with great observations about how people use spaces and interact with their environment


Design Theory

Architecture: Form, Space and Order - This is a great guidebook for architects and landscape architects alike


History of Landscape Architecture

Illustrated History of Landscape Design - A great intro to the history of landscape architecture.


Urban Planning/Design

Death and Life of Great American Cities - It's a classic and should be a required read for anyone in landscape architecture or architecture


This is the short list - I'll add to it as I think of more!

The world heritage of gardens by Dusan Ogrin is a great one. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/World-Heritage-Gardens-Dusan-Ogrin/dp/0500236666

It takes a historic perspective and goes through all of the important eras of garden design, describing how basic design principles such as contrast, harmony, rythm etc. were used to convey different messages. It won't provide you with any recepies for designing but it is still great to understand historical significance of landscape structures. Highly recommended to anyone dealing with landscape design.

Another one I would recommend, but which is more general is The cultured landscape. https://www.amazon.com/Cultured-Landscape-Designing-Environment-Century/dp/0419250409
This one is a bit more philosophical but great to understand where landscape architecture is moving in general.

Enjoy your reading.

This list is great - thanks!

I'm curious if you have more positive associations with the portable handbook as opposed to a more detailed, longer text along the lines of Landscape Architecture by Barry Starke.

I'm realizing there may be a different among "the basics" depending on the emphasis on technical operations, versus more aesthetic, pictorial emphasis.

Basically anything Copic for pens and color markers, Micron has great pens too. There's the ubiquitous Pentel sign pen, as well as Sharpies in a variety of point sizes. Staedtler makes great circle templates and pencil sets and you might want to consider some books such as the venerable Landscape Graphics and Drawing and Designing with Confidence. Oh, and tracing paper, lots of it.

There's a surprising amount of crossover between LA and psych. Here are some links:

A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces by William H Whyte (video)

Environmental Psychology

Travel to places that you like and journal/sketch about what you like, how it makes you feel to be in the space, take note of elements like lighting, seating, fountains/sculptures, and materials. Find out who designed the space and check out more of their work.

Call up a local LA firm that does similar work to the type you want to do, and ask for a tour of their office, shadow them in the field, or ask for an internship.

I have heard Wacom which is a famous brand in tablet field. But the prices of the products are relatively high. Even though they have cheap products, they are small, I mean the active area. And since you are still a student and new beginner in digital art, I guess you are not familiar with the operation of tablets, therefore I advise you to purchase a cheaper one. Also the quality of the tablet should be confirmed, but it cannot be as good as wacom's tablets. I recommend Huion H610Pro for its large active area, cheap price, high resoultion, fast report rate, responsive pen pressure sensitivity and rechargeable pen. Here is the link and you can know more about H610Pro and you will know what Pro means.
http://www.amazon.com/Huion-H610-Graphics-Drawing-Tablet/dp/B00GIGGS6A/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A30BRCK3LE6SB5

Digital Drawing for Landscape Architecture is a pretty good resource

This beast helped me in finding design inspiration plus it helps keep my arms in shape for all the coffee I drink.

Landscape Architecture, Fourth Edition: A Manual of Land Planning and Design 4th Edition

This book covers urban designe very well. It also includes useful illustrations in the margins.

Unfortunately, this may speak to the knowledge deficit that has long plagued both academia and the LA profession, but it may also be reflective of your real world exposure to the subject matter. If it all seems foreign to you, maybe you are not ready to sit for this section of the exam, the purpose of which is to establish your competency rather than to simply put a checkmark in a box. How long have you been working professionally?

But I digress. The best resource that I have found, which CLARB, ASLA and land8 have neglected to include in their resource guides, is the Project Resource Manual from CSI. This covers everything you need to know, and then some, and will serve you well throughout your career.

https://www.amazon.com/Project-Resource-Manual-CSI-Practice/dp/0071370048

FYI, they also offer certifications that accompany this manual, but that is probably premature at this point.

Speaking as an ecologist/MLA student, I'd recommend:

[Land Mosaics - The Ecology of Landscapes and Regions] (http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/life-sciences/ecology-and-conservation/land-mosaics-ecology-landscapes-and-regions#Z1soSK6SqqTFIWBR.99) by Richard Forman (more classic, approachable, design-relevant)

Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice by Turner & Gardner (more technical/scientific, quantitative, up-to-date)

Also rec'd and relevant is Marsh's Landscape Planning, basically an applied spatial/environmental planning text/manual.

Landscape ecology is basically a sub-discipline of ecology (the study of interactions among/between organisms and their environment) with a spatial, and often broad-scale focus (sq-km to 10,000s of sq-km). As /u/OneiricGeometry says, it's an academic discipline more than a professional field, but one highly relevant to work in design, planning, and environmental management.

Edit: Also highly rec Design With Nature, even if it's a bit dated, it communicates well in words, photos, and graphics, a way of thinking that is central to landscape planning and design.

Sure! Check out The Landscape Urbanism Reader, Groundswell, & [Modern Landscape Architecture] (http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Landscape-Architecture-Critical-Review/dp/0262700514/ref=pd_sim_b_35) for starters.

If you're studying for LARE, this one is more current and relevant for project management:

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Practice-Landscape-Architecture-Complete/dp/0470278366/ref=pd_sim_14_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0470278366&pd_rd_r=4TDNTCR7KR47NNYFCMHV&pd_rd_w=4Yj6b&pd_rd_wg=3cNul&psc=1&refRID=4TDNTCR7KR47NNYFCMHV

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0471555126

Great City Parks - Alan Tate

Two books that get referenced from my shelf quite often are:

Landmarks: Fields of Landscape Photography

and

Taking Measure Across the American Landscape

I'm also partial to the work of Wynn Bullock, Michael Kenna, and Sebastio Selgado; though some of them may be a bit too editorial or minimalist depending on your interests...

it's been out for years, but i graduated in 97, so it's new to me.

https://www.amazon.com/Form-Fabric-Landscape-Architecture-Introduction/dp/0415246385