UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning

UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Our Mission...Through cutting edge research and teaching in design and planning, we explore what it In 1903, LARP was founded by Frank A.

Waugh as an undergraduate program in Landscape Gardening, the second such program in the United States. In 1930, the original Bachelor of Science in Landscape Gardening was changed to a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture. The MLA was initiated in 1915 as a Master's in Landscape Gardening, changed three years later to a Master's in Landscape Architecture. Our Associate's in Landscape Con

tracting (AS), part of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, was initiated in 1923. In 1968 the Master's in Regional Planning (MRP) was initiated. in 1971, the name of the Department was changed to Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning to reflect our larger mission. Doctorate in Regional Planning (PhD) was approved in 1988, and the first students were admitted in 1989. The MLA, MRP, and BSLA are all professionally accredited degrees.

This Wednesday, you can hear from LARP Associate Professor, Carolina Aragón, present "Art as Preview: Installations for ...
07/13/2026

This Wednesday, you can hear from LARP Associate Professor, Carolina Aragón, present "Art as Preview: Installations for Hopeful Adaptation," during LAF's Future Now: Webcast Discussion Series!

Carolina is the creator of several award-winning public art installations. Projects like High Tide in Boston, sWARM in Springfield, and most recently, Heat Blooms in Cambridge, use art to engage communities with the realities of climate change, from sea-level rise to extreme heat.

Join in at 12:30-1:45pm EDT. Register at https://www.lafoundation.org/resources/2026/06/future-now-webcast-discussion?utm_source=Landscape+Architecture+Foundation+Subscribers&utm_campaign=3b63bdef40-webinar-engagement-26-04-14_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-6c58a99c3f-49876747

🎨Hi LARP Alumni and Students! Want to design the new nameplate for our 2026 magazine, Wilder Times? Submit your design t...
07/06/2026

🎨Hi LARP Alumni and Students! Want to design the new nameplate for our 2026 magazine, Wilder Times? Submit your design to [email protected] by Friday, July 10th. If your design is selected, we'll credit you in the magazine!

This year, LARP studios tackled climate resilience and environmental recovery in places like Boston, MA; Bath, ME; Southern VT; and Hartford, CT! We're looking for a nameplate that incorporates the themes of nature and climate resilience. Think plants, regrowth, and resilient landscapes. 🌱 🌳 🌿

Check out these images by LARP students (August Ellis, Michael Amato, Nina Fritsch, and Rhapsody Espiritu) for inspiration!

🎉🌎Wayne Feiden, FAICP, the Director of the Center for Resilient Metro-Regions at LARP, has received a Fulbright Speciali...
06/26/2026

🎉🌎Wayne Feiden, FAICP, the Director of the Center for Resilient Metro-Regions at LARP, has received a Fulbright Specialist award! Feiden is working in Balti, Moldova, to advance the city’s park planning through a new strategic plan.

“Balti has wonderful green spaces, including two parks that help define the center of the city,” says Feiden. “Our work will include consideration of how to think about underserved areas of the city and how to think strategically given limited resources.”

Liana Rosenblum, Adriana Pinto-Pro, and Delaney Gardner won a BSLA Undergrad Honor Award for their project, "Recovering ...
06/25/2026

Liana Rosenblum, Adriana Pinto-Pro, and Delaney Gardner won a BSLA Undergrad Honor Award for their project, "Recovering Parkville's Post-Industrial Scar"!🎉🏅

The team completed their project in our Fall 2025 Senior Urban Design Studio taught by Frank Sleegers and Michael Amato. Students worked with the City of Hartford, CT, Neighborhood Planning Department to envision the recovery and revitalization of a former scrapyard in Hartford's Parkville neighborhood.

Delaney, who just graduated from Mount Holyoke in May, joined the studio through the Five College Interchange.

📖Awards will be featured in BSLA's Fieldbook.
🎨Designs by Liana Rosenblum, Adriana Pinto-Pro, and Delaney Gardner

📣 Calling all LARP alumni - Get featured in the Class Notes section of our new department magazine! 📰 Share your profess...
06/24/2026

📣 Calling all LARP alumni - Get featured in the Class Notes section of our new department magazine! 📰 Share your professional and life updates at https://forms.gle/UggA67pxUdCLCKrVA. Or scan the QR code!

We can't wait to celebrate you!

Missing our graduates already! Go change the world, Class of 2026.☀💚
06/09/2026

Missing our graduates already! Go change the world, Class of 2026.☀💚

🎤🌎Carolina Aragón is giving a lightning talk 's Future Now: Taking Action for People + Planet by Design summit in Detroi...
06/04/2026

🎤🌎Carolina Aragón is giving a lightning talk 's Future Now: Taking Action for People + Planet by Design summit in Detroit today!

Carolina, associate professor at UMass LARP and founder of Art for Public Good, will present a portfolio of public art installations across Massachusetts, which have been designed to serve as future and real-time visualization of local challenges such as flooding and extreme heat.

Carolina's works demonstrate how art and landscape architecture can merge to bridge the vast communication gaps around climate adaptation, fostering engagement across all levels of society.

See the talk, "Art as Preview: Installations for Hopeful Adaptation," at 3:40 pm!

05/29/2026

📣Boston launched its 2030 Climate Action Plan to protect neighborhoods from climate change. See how our students have inspired new conversations about climate resilience for the North End and West End with the help of students from the Eliot School!

☀️Earlier this month, our Beloved Places Senior Landscape Architecture studio and the Eliot School came together at the Hub on Causeway to present innovative design solutions to coastal flooding, extreme heat, and other climate challenges facing Boston's communities. Guests included representatives from the West End Civic Association, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Boston Science Museum, and other organizations working to build a more resilient city.

Special thanks to Envision Resilience for making these efforts possible. And to our Class of 2026, we can't wait to see the change you will lead in the world!🌎

05/19/2026

Julia Opel's Master of Regional Planning project explored how the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program builds capacity for planners and municipal staff, as part of its focus on expansive community engagement for climate adaptation.🔍🌎

☀️Julia worked in collaboration with Shannon Callaham, a PhD candidate in the UMass Amherst Department of Environmental Conservation, who has been researching the program!

This concludes our master's thesis spotlights! Congrats to all our graduating master's students!👏

Address

210 Design Building, 551 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA
01003

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+14135452255

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to UMass Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning:

Shortcuts

Share