Beyond the Studio: A Conversation on Landscape Architecture at Ball State and OSU

Sam Clemente: Can we introduce ourselves?

Alexa Warren: Yeah, go ahead.

Sam Clemente: I’m Sam, third year, with LABash.

Zach Curry: I’m Zach, fourth year in the landscape program, and president of OSU’s student design magazine.

Speaker 4: I’m Claire, third year in landscape, also with LABash.

Alexa Warren: I’m Alexa, fourth year out of five at Ball State University, and student chapter president of ASLA at Ball State.

Zach Curry: Are you a fourth year currently, or about to graduate?

Alexa Warren: I’m a fourth year.

Zach Curry: And then you have…

Alexa Warren: One more year for thesis writing. Any remaining directed electives, Gen Eds, or minor classes can be completed then.

Zach Curry: You mentioned your project is going straight to the State?

Alexa Warren: Yes, it’s extra credit to submit to the Indiana chapter of ASLA and the APA. Since the setup is already done, we might as well submit.

Zach Curry: So there are chances to take projects to competitions?

Alexa Warren: Yes. These are student awards. For example, Ball State had four Indiana student award winners for residential design. You can hypothetically submit any class project. I’m also in a historic preservation elective and writing a paper on my professor’s house to submit to an Indiana journal. So we do have structured opportunities to share work outside the university.

Zach Curry: That’s a journal outside the university?

Alexa Warren: Yes, the Indiana Journal of Science.

Zach Curry: Very cool. We don’t get many opportunities to share work outside our building.

Sam Clemente: Mostly grad students do that.

Alexa Warren: Oh, really?

Sam Clemente: Yeah.

Zach Curry: They get to actually implement projects in the real world.

Alexa Warren: Do you guys have immersive learning?

Sam Clemente: We do site visits.

Zach Curry: How hands-on is it?

Alexa Warren: Really hands-on. I did a semester designing a park in Shelbyville, Indiana. My class did community engagement, paperwork, and design. Landscape architects are now building it. Another immersive learning project will be creating a storybook for kids about landscape architecture if I don’t get an internship next semester.

Zach Curry: Very cool. We don’t have anything like that.

Alexa Warren: It’s more realistic than just classroom projects.

Zach Curry: Yeah, we have a playground studio, but our designs aren’t built; there’s no competition or continuation.

Alexa Warren: Here, sometimes the designs are built. For example, an honors house backyard is being built based on student designs. It’s more fun and realistic.

Sam Clemente: What firm designs those projects?

Alexa Warren: Usually the university hires out. For the campus project, probably Ratio. The Shelbyville project was Context, I think.

Zach Curry: Do you do a lot of residential work?

Alexa Warren: Not a priority, but our planting studio often has residential projects. My regional planning studio is large-scale projects.

Zach Curry: We do some residential in our second-year ecotech class, but mostly big-scale projects.

Alexa Warren: Sorry, my cat decided to join—someone had to ride in the car.

Speaker 4: You mentioned engineering classes—have they helped you professionally?

Alexa Warren: Absolutely. I’ve taken four engineering classes. I can communicate with engineers on site, understand retaining walls, water flow, materials, and design placement. Difficult, but very helpful.

Sam Clemente: Which classes?

Alexa Warren: Introduction to water grading, materials selection, a full-site engineering project, and this year Revit plus bits of post-occupancy evaluation, lighting, and miscellaneous topics. Revit isn’t my favorite, but it’s useful.

Zach Curry: We don’t teach Revit here, and many firms prefer it over Rhino.

Alexa Warren: We do CAD and Revit. We started teaching it three years ago after noticing its industry relevance.

Zach Curry: How’s your building construction affecting you?

Alexa Warren: The renovation started in the basement last year. This year, the first floor is shut down; we have to walk around the building. Fifth-year students have downtown studios. Construction should finish March-April 2027. It’s loud and cold.

Speaker 4: Did students give input on the renovations?

Alexa Warren: They asked architecture students, but not landscape students specifically. We do have some planter beds and a yearly redesign project.

Zach Curry: So are all studios crammed?

Alexa Warren: Landscape studios aren’t—24 students—but first-years are crowded, using lockers for storage, gallery spaces converted for classrooms.

Zach Curry: Does Indiana respect landscape architecture as a profession?

Alexa Warren: Yes, Ball State graduates are appreciated, and Indianapolis has a lot of landscape architecture firms. Job hunting is still challenging; I’ve applied to 21 firms for a spring internship and have few responses. It’s competitive, like everywhere.

Zach Curry: What kind of projects are most common?

Alexa Warren: High-end residential, brownfield redevelopment, and urban/suburban parks. Similar to Ohio. Utah is different due to new development.

Sam Clemente: What about LABash questions?

Alexa Warren: I don’t have any. Our department supports ASLA events. We have fun classes like hand graphics, computer courses, and electives like historic preservation, AI, VR, and water engineering.

Zach Curry: Are electives optional?

Alexa Warren: Yes, most are optional. Required classes include engineering, studios, hand graphics, environmental systems, and computer graphics. Electives like historic preservation, storybook design, and fountain engineering are optional.

Sam Clemente: How many people are on your LABash team?

Alexa Warren: Eleven in the core team, plus about four in the gallery team.

Sam Clemente: Eleven seems good; it started small but grew through recruiting.

Alexa Warren: Ball State hasn’t hosted LABash since 1996. Attendance is low; even as ASLA president, I struggle to get participation.

Sam Clemente: Hosting LABash is full-time work; previous co-directors quit jobs to manage it.

Alexa Warren: I’d love to do it, but with low student engagement, I can’t handle it alone. I hope to set up infrastructure for the next group.

Sam Clemente: You can help with venues, themes, and logistics even if you graduate before the event.

Alexa Warren: Maybe I can speak at it to show it was my idea.

Sam Clemente: The Spark Talks committee is a good example of student input.

Alexa Warren: I’m one of three students on that committee, providing advice on timing and student interests. Meetings are once a month, one hour.

Zach Curry: Sounds great.