Having an Outside Office
By Austin Brentley
If working in a tiny cubicle under harsh fluorescent lights does not appeal to you, why not take your job outside? Why spend your time sending TPS reports when you could try your hand at landscape architecture?
What Is Landscape Architecture?
Landscape architecture is actually very similar to regular architecture, except that instead of building structures, you design and create outdoor spaces. Landscape architecture is much more labor-intensive that regular lawn maintenance however, because you often must give a radical facelift to an outdoor area. Smoothing out mounds, moving trees around, and building walkways or parks are routine duties in landscape architecture.
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However, your office consists of the great outdoors. Most professional landscape architects (and maybe office workers too) would probably agree that working outside in natural light is preferable to working indoors under sterile, humming lights.
How You Can Get Into Landscape Architecture
There are actually many paths into this field. Some extremely driven and fortunate individuals simply start out on their own and slowly gain clients over time. Others join a landscape architecture company that contracts workers out on a regular basis. But if you are really serious about landscape architecture, the U.S. Department of Labor recommends completing at least a bachelor's degree in the field. Many of your clients will be larger firms or local governments, so having qualifications will increase your chances of employment.
The good news is that landscape architecture as an industry will grow faster than the national average for other jobs, due to the increasing need to utilize and maximize relatively limited space. With the increasing opportunities and the chance to work in open spaces, switching to landscape architecture might just be one of the most liberating decisions you'll ever make.
About the Author
A freelance writer and researcher, Austin Brentley is an English teacher currently living and working in Yamaguchi, Japan. His previous experience includes working for a lobbying firm in his native Washington, DC and working for various record and television studios in New York. Austin holds a B.A. in history from Harvard University.
