Günther Vogt, renowned landscape architect, shared a reflective and nuanced presentation centred on landscape as a form of cultural production. Drawing on projects from Italy, the UK, and Switzerland, he challenged simplistic understandings of landscape design by revealing the invisible ecologies, social histories, and infrastructural complexities that shape public space. He discussed working with interdisciplinary teams — scientists, artists, architects — to create landscapes that not only serve aesthetic or recreational purposes but actively engage with urgent issues such as climate change, pollution, biodiversity, and identity. Vogt emphasised the need to adapt to regional perceptions of landscape and showed how understanding a culture’s self-image can influence design. His talk also addressed the increasing scale and complexity of landscape challenges in the face of ecological crises.
“I always say the English have an erotic relationship with grass. In front of the Tate, there are no benches. They lie on the lawn. When we proposed benches for the European visitors, the British said no — they want to touch the grass. I’ve never seen a society so intimately connected to this material.”
— Günther Vogt
