What if one of Minnesota’s most destructive invasive species could be used to bring communities together? Recent landscape architecture graduate Sean Durbin (MLA '26) transformed harvested buckthorn into a handcrafted marimba, creating a joyful new way for communities to engage in ecological restoration through sound, design, and collective action.
The University of Minnesota’s Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program has earned full accreditation, establishing a newly recognized undergraduate pathway to professional licensure. This milestone marks a major step forward for the College of Design, alongside the renewed accreditation of its Master of Landscape Architecture program.
Landscape Architecture graduates from the College of Design are building careers that extend far beyond traditional practice. From climate resilience planning and campus development to cultural landscape preservation and public parks leadership, alumni are applying design thinking in powerful, interdisciplinary ways. Their work demonstrates how an education in landscape architecture equips graduates to navigate complex systems, collaborate across disciplines, and shape resilient, inclusive places.
From river corridors and wetlands to city streets and community spaces, students in the Master of Landscape Architecture program are learning to design with empathy and imagination, restoring connections between people, place, and the living systems that sustain us.
Pig’s Eye Lake at the Mississippi River in St. Paul, a site of historical pollution with significant Indigenous heritage and ecological importance, will serve as a catalyst project of the “Soft-Urban Riverfront: A New Paradigm for Headwater Metropolises” studio.
Adrienne Bockheim (MLA ‘10) discovered her passion for landscape architecture after the realization that it encompassed everything that fascinated her. Her work, first as a graduate student and then as a project coordinator, with the College of Design’s Minnesota Design Center laid the foundation for a career uniting landscape architecture and urban planning. As a principal city planner for the City of Minneapolis, Bockheim plays a pivotal role in transformative projects like the New Nicollet Redevelopment. In this interview, she shares insights into her career trajectory, offers advice to students, and reflects on how her time at the college shaped her successful career path.
Exciting transformations have taken place at the College of Design, as several spaces have been renovated to enhance the student experience. The college recently completed renovations in Rapson Hall Rooms 1 and 253; McNeal Hall Suite 32, 12, and 18; and 1425 University Ave. Rooms 75 and 175. All of the renovations have resulted in refreshed and reimagined areas that cater to the needs of students from across design programs.
The College of Design is pleased to announce that 12 of its individuals and teams received funding from the University’s 2023 Imagine Fund. These grants support innovative research in the arts, humanities, and design fields. Design faculty and researchers will use the funds for historical investigation and analysis, community-based design, and experimental technology applications.
Max Dickson (he/him) earned a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota in 2019. After graduation, Dickson moved to Philadelphia to work with OLIN, an internationally awarded landscape architecture and urban design firm. At OLIN, Dickson’s work has focused on district-scale urban spaces, and leading the emergent research initiative through OLIN Labs called PrideScapes, an exploration of LGBTQ+ landscapes and people within the field of landscape architecture.
