This is the first in a series of posts on a site inventory which is one of many topics covered on the California Supplemental Exam for landscape architects.
What is Site Inventory?
According to the Dictionary of Landscape Architecture and Construction, site inventory is defined as “[g]athering and categorizing data and information on natural and human features in an area proposed for a planning project”.
Site inventory is the first step in the design process
Sites are active networks that are intertwined in complex relationships between the site and its off-site environmental context. All landscape architect candidates must be knowledgeable of the procedures used to identify existing site conditions.
What Do I Need To Know About Site Inventory To Pass the CSE?
The California Supplemental Exam for landscape architects includes four areas of concentration in the site inventory section.
- Identify existing site conditions (e.g., natural, cultural, site features, infrastructure) to determine influences that affect development of project site.
- Identify data (e.g., survey, soil analysis) needed to assist in development of project site.
- Identify off-site conditions (e.g., water shed, views, circulation, land use) to determine influences that affect development of project site.
- Identify potentially hazardous areas (e.g., fire hazards, slope instability, toxics) of project site to address in development of project site.
Each of these job tasks has several other topics that fall under each one. Over the next few days, I will discuss each of these tasks and some of the thinks that I think will be on the CSE.
Let me know if there is a particular topic you would like to see included in this series.
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John is a landscape architect who is currently preparing to take the California Supplemental Exam to become licensed in California. He is currently a licensed professional landscape architect in Georgia and Florida. John graduated from California State University, Pomona with a BSLA degree in landscape architecture in 1997 and has extensive practice experience in residential and commercial landscape design.