Syntax of Landscape The Landscape Architecture of Peter Latz and Partners

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1 Syntax of Landscape The Landscape Architecture of Peter Latz and Partners

2 Udo Weilacher Syntax of Landscape The Landscape Architecture of Peter Latz and Partners Birkhäuser Basel Boston Berlin

3 Layout and cover design: Peter Willberg, London Translation: Michael Robinson, London Translation of Preface: Julian Reisenberger, Weimar Copyediting of the English edition: Jessica Read, Lindenberg This book is also available in a German edition: ISBN Bibliographic information published by The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at Library of Congress Control Number: This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in data banks. For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained Birkhäuser Verlag AG Basel Boston Berlin P.O.Box 133, CH-4010 Basel, Switzerland Part of Springer Science+Business Media Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF Printed in Germany ISBN

4 Contents Preface Landscape architecture as cultural valorization Layers of information. How does landscape work? University of Marburg on Lahnberge Ulm Science City on Eselsberg Plateau de Kirchberg, Luxembourg Dealing with bad places Saarbrücken Harbour Island Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park Parco Dora, Turin Hiriya Mountain, Tel Aviv Design as experimental invention Notes Project data Illustration credits Further selected projects and competitions Selected publications Exhitions and catalogues On Peter Latz and Partners

5 Preface The right degree of closeness is the right amount of detachment this is what one repeats to oneself as an author when trying to establish the best possible relation to one s subject, whilst in actual fact oscillating between that enthusiastic curiosity that fuels writing, and the necessary critical reflection. In the end, the hope is to infect the reader with the same joy of discovery and understanding of gardens and of landscapes that ultimately moved me to put pen to paper. I say ultimately because, more so than ever before, in this book it has been particularly difficult to find the right degree of closeness through the right amount of detachment this is not just a book on contemporary landscape architecture written by a teacher, but also a book written by a student about his teacher. For almost seven years, from 1986 to 1993, I studied landscape architecture at the Technische Universität München-Weihenstephan in Freising and I was inevitably influenced in my professional thinking and actions by Peter Latz s conceptual approaches. The search for critical distance, for an individual standpoint and new perspectives in landscape architecture was already prevalent some 20 years ago, as I wanted to push beyond the know-how I had been invested with. That said, it would be wrong to deny that my studies at Weihenstephan, and Peter Latz in particular, have had a lasting influence on my work. The awareness of one s own partiality and the knowledge of how difficult it would be to bring together the richness of Peter Latz s work and the complexity of his thinking in a single publication has for years held me back from responding to Anneliese and Peter Latz s willingness for me to write this book. Why then now, just when Peter Latz is preparing to relinquish his teaching and research at the TU München in spring 2008, and at a time when a new generation, in particular Tilman Latz, is gaining influence in the office of Latz + Partner? To this day I have no truly plausible answers to these questions. It seems that, over the years, so much of the aforementioned fuel has accumulated that it would no longer be prudent to delay ignition any longer, to stick with the metaphor. New generations of landscape architecture students (not only at the TU München and the Leibniz Universität Hannover) have discovered the work of Peter Latz and bemoan, quite rightly, and just as we did 20 years earlier, the lack of a comprehensive publication on the work of Latz + Partner from which one can learn more of their visionary design and planning approaches, and of the theoretical and conceptual background to the projects undertaken at the office in Ampertshausen. The Syntax of Landscape aims to contribute to an understanding of important developments in international landscape architecture. The objective was not to 7

6 compile a comprehensive, annotated and illustrated catalogue of projects but to discuss some of Peter Latz s work and theoretical approaches with respect to their manifold interrelationships with other positions in landscape and architectural design. As such, the reader will also find works by the landscape architects Bernard Lassus and Richard Haag or the artist Lois Weinberger in this book, as well as short discussions of important principles of landscape and design theory from Lucius Burckhardt, Horst Rittel or the Structuralists from the realm of architecture. I am most grateful to all those who so willingly provided me with information and image material in this respect, in particular Richard Haag, Bernard Lassus, Mary Randlett, Franziska and Lois Weinberger as well as Dr. Martin Weyl. From the very beginning Anneliese and Peter Latz have trusted and supported me in this broader thematic approach. With great patience and concentration, Peter Latz assisted me in long and detailed interviews. Many passages, short in comparison to the full-length discussions, are drawn from these, the voice of the designer speaking directly, printed in italics. In addition, Latz + Partner supported me with great organisational assistance, in particular their colleague Karin Graßl. This cooperation also clearly showed the immense contribution made over decades by Anneliese Latz to the international success of the office in her role as an experienced and meticulous project partner. This book cannot fully reflect the extent and importance of her input. For decades, the landscape architect Dr. Gunter Bartholmai, Peter Latz s colleague at the TU München, has accompanied Peter s teaching and research activities with extraordinary dedication. I am thankful to him not only for his valuable information on the conceptual thought behind Peter Latz s work, but also for a whole series of essential images which he provided for this book, as I am to many others who provided illustrations including Manfred Balg, Michael Latz, Peter Liedtke, Sara Cedar Miller, Monika Nikolic, Christa Panick, Jane Sebire, Susanne Wamsler, André Weisgerber and Harf Zimmermann. To Hanno Dutt I am grateful for the insights he provided into Peter Latz s biographical background. Last but not least, I would like to thank the book s designer Peter Willberg and the translator of the English edition, Michael Robinson, for their excellent work, and once again my long-standing editor and friend Andreas Müller, who over many years has contributed with level-headedness and great personal commitment to the Syntax of Landscape. Without the ever loving and patient professional as well as organisational support of my wife, the landscape architect Rita Weilacher, I would not have been able to realise this extraordinary project. How can I thank her enough? Udo Weilacher, August

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