Work in Progress - Landscape Architecture Lecture Series

About

Landscapes are always a work in progress and a collective work over time. The autumn term of the ‘Work In Progress’ lecture series features informal talks involving practitioners and thinkers from a range of disciplines, speaking about work in progress, working methods, and the process of working with landscape. 

This series is presented by the Landscape Architecture MA and MLA programmes and is open to the public.

Schedule

2 November | 13:00 | Ed Wall

Ways of Being Seen

The early stages of this research employ mapping, historic postcards and model making to explore intersecting narratives of settlement and displacement, ownership and labour, transportation and tourism, materiality and monumentality. 

Biography

Ed Wall's work focuses on the intersection of landscape, spatial justice, and design experimentation. He is Academic Lead of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Greenwich, co-director of the Advanced Urban (AU) research group, and a visiting professor at Politecnico di Milano. 

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7 December | 13:00 | Jala Makhzoumi

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Landscape, Neoliberal Politics and Colonial Legacy

The word ‘landscape’ was introduced as part and parcel of colonial transformation of Middle Eastern cities. Today, the prevailing understanding of landscape continues to be informed by these parameters, the meaning of ‘landscape’ narrowly construed to imply urban beautification. Beyond cities, national borders imposed by Western colonizers disrupted cultural and ecological continuities. The colonial legacy came to undermine cultural values and social practices that were responsive to the ecology and sound environmentally. Historical and cultural ruptures hinder the development of a culturally rooted conception of ‘landscape’ and deny the potential of landscape architecture, an emerging profession, in framing environmental, social and political problematics. In the talk, Dr Makhzoumi explores paths taken to overcome these limitations while addressing global concerns for climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Drawing on examples from rural and urban landscapes, she hopes to share insight into the early development of a contextualized discourse on landscape architecture in the region.

Biography

Dr Jala Makhzoumi is Adjunct Professor of Landscape Architecture at the American University of Beirut. 

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New date 14 December | 13:00 | Herb Sweeney

Moving a River to Flood Protect a City: Toronto's Port Lands

Following years of abuse and neglect, a process of healing the land is underway in the Port Lands of Toronto, Canada. Through an unprecendented engineering project to provide flood protection to 240 hectares of Toronto's downtown, post-industrial brownfields will be transformed into a naturalised riverine ecosystem that reconnects wildlife habitat from the Don Valley to Lake Ontario. By reintroducing nature into the urban environment, the health and well-being of urban residents is improved through easy access to the City's next great park. 

Biography

Herb Sweeney is a Principal at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. MVVA is an award-winning landscape architecture firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Brooklyn, New York. Herb's expertise lies in the integration of environmentally sustainable technologies into landscape and urban design. Herb has taken a leadership role on numerous MVVA orjects, including the new US Embassy building in Mexico City, Asian Cultural Complex in South Korea and the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas. Herb is currently leading MVVA's multidisciplinary team for the park and river components of Toronto's $1.25 billion Port Lands Flood Protection project. 

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8 February | 13:00 | Felicity Steers

Erz Studio: Landscape and Research Design

Felicity Steers will join us to speak about ongoing design work and research at erz studio. In particular, she will discuss a series of current research projects the office is developing for NHS Scotland.

Biography

Felicity Steers is Director of erz Studio, an award-winning landscape architecture practice based in Glasgow, Scotland. Felicity’s work focuses on creative design, community, environmental psychology and innovation. Previous built projects include the Urban Jungle at Merrylee School and the award winning master plan for the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre.

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Cancelled 1 March | 13:00 | Martí Franch

This event has been cancelled. 

Between Earth and Light

Celebrated Catalan landscape architect Martí Franch presents ongoing projects which trace a transect from earth to sky. These works explore and propose tools for design that give rise to and support life through the manipulation of light, shade, and water.

Biography

Martí Franch Batllori is a landscape architect and horticulturalist; founder and principal of EMF Landscape Architecture. EMF is an interdisciplinary practice of independent experts in the field of urban and environmental design. The practice explores hybrid ways of working with ecological systems and cultural constructs to inform projects and build up new realities. 

Franch's work has been published internationally and has received numerous awards. Including the LILA landezine international landscape awards in 2020 and 2016; ASLA American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Awards 2012; European Landscape Biennial Rosa Barba Prize 2012; as well as seleected finalist in FAD 2021, Rosa Barba Prize 2010 and CCCB European Prize of Public Space 2012. 

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More information

• Landscape Architecture MA/MLA at The Bartlett School of Architecture
• Image:  Orchestrating a new material reserve, Sheetal Muralidhara