landscape architect here.
had some architecture training in tokyo. worked in several l.a. firms. got tired of the working 80 hour weeks making buildings designed in space work with the ground. now i have started a non-profit that writes grants on a project by project basis to investigate, document, and exhibit cultural and socio-economic land use issues.

i check up on archinect every now and then to see what's going on. i enjoy the 'fashionable-hip-and-cool-brand-name-wear-lots-of-prada-east-coast-pedigree' emphasis within architecture. It's fun. But only for short periods of time - then I head back to landscape land. Most of the architects I've been around spend huge energy on image. It makes sense, but I don't think I could do it. I've always internally theorized about that being one of the fundamental differences between the professions.

i work at a landscape arch firm in l.a. but i don't do design, i do business development, so perhaps you can put me into another category altogether, ha. i enjoy reading all the threads - esp. the cornfield one (!!!) and I like getting a different perspective on topics than reading about them in the paper or hearing about them in passing.

while i'm not at a "celebrity" firm, we are busy here in los angeles none-the-less - www.ahbe.com

I'd also mention Melendrez as a busy firm in here in L.A. They like the larger planning projects. Haven't seen their name pop up either (and Melani Smith worked a decent amount on the Not A Cornfield installation...yes? I think that's the case)

LA grad student here- glad to see a thread!

Also- there are many great Landscape Architecture firms around, from the very small scale to the 'starchitects' of the LA world (i.e. Peter Walker, Martha Schwartz, Van Valkenburgh. Also, I worked for awhile at a playground design firm which was mostly populated by landscape architects.

I personally wanted to go to work for Jens Jensen or Alfred Caldwell...In fact I would close the doors of my firm if there were an opportunity to rub elbows with either of the gentlemen. Sadly they are long gone.

I did get out to Iowa last fall to see the park designed by Caldwell overlooking the Mississippi River. I have to say is one of the greatest works of Architecture and Landscape Park Architecture America has to offer.

i have an la degree, currently work at an la firm. i got my firm to post thier job openings on this site about a year ago - no one ever responded - i was surprised. i thought more of the younger LAs especially would be here. anti/abra/ja and all, enjoyed reading your comments.

over time my appreciation of a fine tuned LA perspective grows while my apprec for an Arch persp declines. though i think this is partly because it's harder to make a horrible open space than a horrible building. and partly the result of working with some disappointingly narrow minded architects who draw awful lines and expect us to just fill it in with green. i tend to think these types are the old guard archs who are gradually being outmoded.

lots of my friends are Archs and we always enjoy mixing views. all said, i'm currently applying to return to school prob for an March - though i certainly don't see myself working for an arch firm in the near future.

i am pulling an all nighter right now because of a landscape architect.


gah.
just wanted to vent a little.

@scorr88: how is the Jobmarket in the US for LA´s ? i came back from china this september working in very large scale urban planning and now orientating via London/UK....

Generally i was much more into LA and Design when i started my studies; all this walker/schwartz/Gustafson stuff. Later i orientated more into Urban Design (thats another thing, which nobody really can define for all: what is urban design; it seems to be everything and nothing) and Urban Planning or like others call it Landscape Urbanism...

i Think its a generall problem that most LA dont know how to define themself inbetween all these jobfields - that makes it interesting but also difficult as always sitting inbetween chairs, specially if you want to work also in other fields like Urban Planning or Architecture, you have from everything a bit...

At the moment i tend much more to work for a more general Designfield (trying to combine Design and Business) like consulting etc... to be honest this inbetweenthing sometimes drives me crazy...

hello there. i am in my first year of landscape architecture at penn, and so far i think it's absolutely fascinating. perhaps penn's approach is different than other schools in terms of approaching the land. for our first project we began by triangulating a site in paterson, nj by plotting points of interest- whether it was the sound of water, shadows, patterns of trees etc. we then discovered these territories by our individual points of interest. from that and several other investigations we derived a programatic plan. anyway, although new to this, i think the conciousness involved in landscape and the way that we approach design is very relevant to many modern day landscape, planning and design issues. I enjoy reading archinect and the disscussion boards to hear the latest news and buzz in the design and architecture world, and also to procrastinate working in studio. In my mind its all inter-related.

yeah- i'm not the only LA posting 'round here- glad to meet ya'll. (ok, Heather Ring was a classmate, and I know the other folks who've been here a while) but good to come out of the woodwork.

Landcake- welcome and say hi to victoria/steve for me next semester... who's teaching 501 this year?

tempo- the job market is very regional, lots of work in LA, NY, Philly, SF, and Boston, not so much work elsewhere. With your German pedigree, Philly or Boston will be your best shots with the GSD/Penn bringing in lots of folk from Ggermany and elsewhere. But choose where you want to live or who you want to work for and go for it... There is a reported shortage of LA graduates per the ASLA, so finding work won't be a problem is most places.

scorr- we're slowly gaining a foothold. keep them posting the jobs here and someday archinect will be the place for finding LA jobs...

So what would you name your very own firm? after a plant (andropogon), glacial feature (stoss), action (field ops), make up a word, or just after yourself?

tempo/tree - i second the positive job market report - scares me to think what happens in other times. 'sitting in btwn chairs' - i can understand your frustration a bit as well.

i used to be anti name firm - but some of these 'designed' names seem more image conscious than simply using your last name and slapping associates at the end. it's a big question. i'm leaning towards an absolutely random selection of 3 or 4 letters. like scrabble. but hopefully you get a 10 pt letter like q or z.

don't knock the "anti" name....

scorr88: thanks for that understanding; at least here in germany the jobmarket is more than down and i´m looking for alternatives...will check out the US-Market...