Dual Masters MURP/LA

[Dashboard]

I am a planner and I have a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree. Like many others in this community, I have been thinking a lot about which way I want my career to go. I know I want something more out of my career. I am interested in urban design (which I did not get a lot of in grad school) and would potentially like to pursue more education in the way of a Master in Landscape Architecture or Urban Design. My question is, how much artistic ability is necessary to pursue such a career. Many years ago, I was pretty decent at art, but it has been a long while. Plus, I know that a lot of design work is done using GIS and CAD now. Just curious about your thoughts on this.

[bdaleray]

My question is, how much artistic ability is necessary to pursue such a career.

My answer: Not much. As a part of any MLA program, they're used to teaching people how to draw. Frankly, that's the easy part - teaching people how to think is much harder. Having said all that, the better you draw / render / whatever the easier it'll be for you.

If you think you're interested in heading that way, start taking some drawing classes now. The basic stuff would be fine, but get used to having a pencil or whatever in your hand, and get comfortable with the process.

Yes, you're right that more and more work is being done with a computer, but you have to be able to walk before you run, and you have to be able to put something together by hand before you put it in the computer. Besides, nothing impresses a client better than grabbing a pencil and sketching what you're talking about *right then* during the process.