In county hall during the first IFLA conference, 1948, © MERL archive, Landscape Institute collection
Workshop 2
Location: Reading, United Kingdom
Dates: 22–23 June 2023
Host: MERL (Guy Baxter, Luca Csepely-Knorr)
The second workshop took place at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) on the campus of the University of Reading and addressed the founding meeting of IFLA in Cambridge in 1948. A research session and a roundtable discussion explored the impact of IFLA then and now. In addition, the team visited the library, the archive with its unique landscape collection, and the MERL galleries. A guided tour was also offered through the Whiteknights campus, the Harris Garden, and the exhibition Women of the Welfare Landscape.
Uncovering hidden histories
Following the studies carried out at CIVA in Brussels, in this research session the team examined archival documents from the collections of the Landscape Institute, which are held at MERL. The information from the archival materials contributed to the understanding of the IFLA history and revealed interesting insights about its foundation in 1948. The team compiled these stories and background information about the early country members of IFLA, available in an online exhibition.
Are you interested in more information about the histories of IFLA that have been uncovered within the project? These can be found in the chapter “Delicate Politics and Female Contributions: Complementary Perspectives on the Founding Years of the IFLA Network” by Luca Csepely-Knorr, Ulrike Krippner, and Imke van Hellemondt, published recently in Akibo Tobiloba and Steffi Schüppel (eds.): The IFLA 75th Anniversary Green Book (Versailles: International Federation of Landscape Architects, 2023).
Roundtable discussion “The History and Impact of a Professional Network”
The roundtable discussion was organized in collaboration with the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). The hybrid event took place at MERL at the University of Reading. Academic researchers, archivists, and landscape architects were invited to discuss the impact of IFLA, what we can learn from its history, and how this knowledge can be used for current practices and challenges.
Ulrike Krippner and Luca Csepely-Knorr were the respondents for the event and Imke van Hellemondt interviewed the following roundtable participants:
- Tim Waterman (landscape architect, professor for landscape architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UK)
- Hal Moggridge (past president of the Landscape Institute, co-founder of Colvin & Moggridge, former professor of landscape architecture and former UK representative at IFLA)
- Natalia Budnik (landscape architect working in Copenhagen and Poland)
- Charles Birnbaum (landscape architect, CEO and founder of Cultural Landscape Foundation, USA)
- Ursula Wieser-Benedetti (landscape architect, curator at CIVA, NELA member, BE)
- Guy Baxter (associate director of the Museum of English Rural Life and head of the archive, NELA member, UK)
The roundtable participants stressed the importance of raising awareness for landscape architecture and its archives within and beyond the boundaries of the discipline. The discussion centred on questions of networking and language, the importance of public engagement and dissemination, and the need to diversify and broaden the histories of landscape architecture.
Recording of the discussion: IFLA75 – The History and Impact of a Professional Network
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7sn27Jr7VM, © IFLA WORLD