The Wageningen international course: some backgrounds on a twelf week cours

Toorn, M., van den

English

Name not available

International Course Landscape Architecture.

Wageningen Yield 

TOPOS / 02 / 2003 31
International course landscape architecture
Introduction
Landscape Architecture in the Nether-
lands and particularly in Wageningen has
always had an international scope. Many
of the professors and lectures in the sixties
and seventies of  the last century have had
their education and practical experience
abroad. In the seventies the programme
even contained a tropical and subtropical
specialisation. In the same period the
Dutch approach on landscape became
famous amongst landscape architects and
planners from all over the world. The
main reason was the emphasis on the
regional scale and the awareness that
design on that scale was possible and
even needed. In most countries landscape
architecture focussed on gardens and
small elements in urban context. The
spatial problems on the regional scale
were in the hands of  regional planners.
These two worlds hardly met.
However, in our small and well-organised
country planners and architects used to
co-operate and sometimes with exciting
results, particularly in the new polder areas.
Wageningen became attractive which
resulted in a growing number of  interna-
tional students. In 1992 our Wageningen
Landscape Department decided to orga-
nise a fulltime English taught planning
and design course; the International
Course was born.
The course started in 1993, so this year
it is taught for the 11th time. It lasts 12
weeks, from the first of  May till the
third week in July.
Scope of  the course and the
teaching model
The core of  the course is basically a
planning and design studio. Parallel with
the studio a series of lectures and field-
trips is scheduled. All three are strongly
related. The Dutch context is a starting
point but we encourage all kinds of  ex-
changes of  ideas, approaches and philo-
sophies. The mentioned diversity of
input gives an interesting perspective on
the future development of  the profession.
Teaching is done on an academic level.
So students are not only supposed to
learn how, but also why they do things
the way they do them. We encourage
individual development and focus on a
high level of  design work.
All design is creating order. This order
implies a certain choice - however it may
be deliberate - it is always a choice of  a
spatial solution in the given situation.
Design teaching is building up a system-
atic approach to design problems in
which individual designers take the lead
in developing ideas and concepts. This
requires an emphasis on personal develop-
ment and not only the learning of  a
‘bunch of  tricks’.
The lecture program consists of  three
types of lectures:
- Introductions into land, landscape
and landscape architecture in The
Netherlands;
- A series of  lectures on contemporary
theory by staff  members;
A challenging experience with international students
Gerrit Parlevliet
Leerstoelgroep Landschapsarchitectuur
Gerrit.Parlevliet@wur.nl Analysing the landscape by drawing.
IC
A new load of international
students is walking in the
Hucht. Every year students
from all over the world come
to wageningen to participate
in the International Course
Landscape Architecture.
What kind of course is this?
What is the scope? Where
do participating students
come from? This article
should give you an idea!
32  TOPOS / 02 / 2003
- A series of lectures on projects of
Dutch landscape architects, mostly
landscape architects that work at private
offices and municipal departments.
Although lectures, presentations and
fieldtrips form an important part of  the
teaching approach the main emphasis is
on individual coaching of  the student in
the studio. Getting to know how the
student thinks and approaches the
problem is the basis for studio teaching.
The final goal is to make the student
ready for individual and independent
work in a practical situation.
The assignment for the studio and
the study area
Problems on a regional scale like this,
form more and more the work of  many
landscape architects in The Netherlands
and abroad. Although planning and
design at a regional level has a long
tradition in The Netherlands, the
approach and methodology is still
developing and constantly changing.
The complexity of  these problems is
threefold:
- The need for integration of  different
scales;
- The need to develop a strategy for
future development instead of  a blueprint
for a final and static situation;
- The need to relate planning and design
in a social context. Communication of
ideas and plans is of  prime importance
for all landscape architects.
For this year the study area is located
near Wageningen; that means within
bicycling distance. The area around
Wageningen offers a wide variety of
challenging related spatial problems like
urban development, accessibility, water
management, ecological zones,
development of  science landscape,
conservation of  historic values, etc. etc.
Fieldtrips
Fieldtrips form an integral part of  the
course. We put much emphasis on visual
research, drawing and analysis of  the site.
We also organise a series of  fieldtrips to
projects of  landscape architects in The
Netherlands to give students a start of
a reference what is done in the field. For
this year fieldtrips are scheduled to old
and new cities and towns and to specific
Dutch landscapes like the ‘polders’, the
river area and the coastal landscapes.
Students population of  the Course
in former years
The course is meant for students with
an academic background of  at least three
years in landscape architecture, landscape
planning, regional planning or urban
design. Every year also a small number
of  Dutch students participate in the
course as part of  their regular programme.
In the last ten years we have had over
220 students from more than 28 different
countries, mainly from Europe, which
resulted in an interesting and stimulating
cultural diversity.
Several participants continued their
studies in one of  the MSc-programmes.
When I join international congresses I
frequently meet former students from
the course. Some of  the positive points,
often mentioned in these contacts are
the social context and academic
atmosphere of  Wageningen and the
way students co-operate. In many cases
the design approach developed in
Wageningen has proved to be a base for
awards in design competitions and for
a promising professional or scientific
career.
This year’s student population
The course will start May 1st with a
group of   35 students originating from
13 different countries. The pre-
requisites for the course imply also this
year a wide scope in background,
knowledge, approach and skill. Ranging
from ecological based programmes of
for instance Germany, planning based
scientific approaches from Portugal
and Sweden, design focussed schools in
Scotland and Munich, craftsmanship
and knowledge of  plant materials from
France, drawing techniques from Poland
and so on.
However, it is hard to draw these
general conclusions from the course
results because individual qualities of
the partici-pants and particularly the
susceptibility to new approaches and
theories tend to dominate. Even
students from the same school from the
same year can show an immense variety
in interest, knowledge and skills.
We expect that after a couple of  weeks
the group process will result in a cohe-
rence and probably, like former years,
the participants will keep contact for
the rest of  their professional careers.<<
This year’s design area. Groupsdinner while being on excursion.


van den Toorn, M.

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International Course Landscape Architecture.

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