Under the motto " We shape the climate ", the bdla will be even more involved in the social debate on climate protection and climate adaptation in the future.

Landscape architects are more qualified for these tasks than almost any other profession. Thanks to their interdisciplinary training, they have a wide range of skills.

We asked Annika Dieffenbacher, Cara Noreen Frey, Carolin Kemkes, Dijana Radojevic, Georg Spree, Laura Sophie Stoib and Rick Vogel about their motivation for taking up the profession of landscape architect.

Creating liveable open spaces for people with greenery

Why did you choose landscape architecture?

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic: We both had very similar motivations when choosing a career. On the one hand, we wanted a profession that reflected our different personal interests and, on the other, one that was very varied. We found both in landscape architecture.

The diversity inspired us right from the start

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic

Landscape architects are, for example, graphic designers, engineers and planners at the same time. We also wanted to pursue a meaningful profession with which we could actually make a long-term difference. As a landscape architect, it is possible to actively help shape the future of cities and create liveable open spaces for people with the living matter of "green".

Cara Frey: I looked at various locations in Germany and then decided on the ASL Architecture, Urban and Landscape Planning department in Kassel. Classmates and teachers often commented on my choice of study in a one-sided way: "Then you can do my garden later". But in terms of versatility, I couldn't have chosen a better course.

The prospect of having a creative, green job with future prospects motivated me to study landscape architecture after graduating from high school

Cara Noreen Frey

Carolin Kemkes: I got into landscape architecture by chance. After graduating from high school, I initially had absolutely no desire to continue "cramming" in a degree course, I wanted to work first, earn my own money and started training as a draughtswoman in civil engineering, gardening and landscaping at the Geo3 GmbH planning office on the Lower Rhine.

My creative streak and my affinity for mathematics and technology came in handy. At the beginning, I wasn't really aware of how all this related to landscape architecture.

Carolin Kemkes

Even during my training, I realized that I was so interested in the profession that I really wanted to learn more and explore new perspectives. Particularly in the broad field of plants, but also in conceptual design processes, I still had gaps in my knowledge after my training that I really wanted to close. That was the starting signal for my Bachelor's degree in "Open Space Planning", followed by a Master's degree in "Landscape Architecture" at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences.

With every module, every study project and every semester, new topics, insights and knowledge open up and I understand more and more the wonderful complexity of landscape architecture.

Even if perhaps unconsciously at first, I would always choose landscape architecture again.

Carolin Kemkes

Georg Spree: My first career aspiration was to become a "naturalist". Later, this interest in flora and fauna was joined by a love of art, design and architecture. I was able to fully live out my passion for art and its practice in a wide variety of crafts during my twelve years of training at a Waldorf school. My heightened interest in architecture was awakened in my final year of school during an intensive twelve-day art trip to Rome. I deepened these interests during my two subsequent years at a technical secondary school in the field of design.

In retrospect, it seems quite obvious that when it came to the question of which further educational path I should take, I ultimately opted for landscape architecture.

For me, landscape architecture is basically the balanced combination of nature and culture in a creative and appealing way.

Georg Spree

Laura Stoib: Landscape architecture was unfamiliar territory for me before I decided to study it. I was generally aware that it would probably be a course in a creative field like architecture. When I researched other areas of architecture in more detail and did a self-test on the Baden-Württemberg study information website, I came across urban planning and landscape architecture.

I was and still am fascinated by the basic concept of creating places that evolve through the user and the process of establishing vegetative and structuring objects. A place or open space has never really reached a "final image" with the completion of the entire construction project, but lives and develops further through users and the associated changes.

Rick Vogel: My first conscious contact with landscape architecture was during a visit to the 2011 Federal Garden Show in Koblenz. I was impressed by how the city had changed and transformed at the site of the event and how a completely new atmosphere was created there with the help of design and the conscious use of plants.

I had already been interested and active in gardening before this visit and it was clear to me that I wanted to find a career in this field in some way.

After my visit to the BUGA, I took a closer look at the job description of a landscape architect. I had the impression that the profession would offer me the opportunity to push my creativity in connection with its structural implementation and with the aspect of plant use.

I was interested in getting to grips with planning aspects in greater depth and also in the context of more extensive projects that go beyond the planning and implementation of small private gardens.

Rick Vogel

When I visit Koblenz and the former BUGA site on the banks of the Rhine today, I often think back to the event. Back then, when I passed through the entrance barrier, I had the feeling that I was moving in a certain microcosm within the city. Today, this terrain forms a successful unity with the surrounding areas of the city and I am impressed by the lasting effect the BUGA has had on the quality of life in the city and on the perception of the banks of the Rhine.

Of course, I was not aware at the time of the many different aspects that influence a landscape architect's work. However, this makes the profession all the more interesting for me today.

There is room for improvement in interdisciplinarity during studies

What was/is the situation with interdisciplinarity at your university?

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic: As true all-rounders with specialist knowledge from a wide range of subject areas, landscape architects are a crucial link to other related professions such as structural architecture, urban planning or, for example, transportation planning. That is why it is important to network them right from the start.

We studied together at the Nürtingen University of Applied Sciences. In addition to landscape architecture, our faculty is home to the spatial planning subjects of urban planning, landscape planning and nature conservation. Some of the networking mentioned above already took place during our studies.

We had the opportunity to come into contact with the other degree programs through joint lecture series in the foundation course and elective subjects in the specialization course. From our point of view, cross-course projects with interdisciplinary teams would further strengthen networking and mutual understanding of the various problems and tasks of these related professional groups.

Cara Frey: I quickly discovered how multifaceted the chosen profession is, not least because of the interdisciplinary nature of the ASL department, where many courses and projects take place together with architecture and urban planning students.

While architects are committed to the limited space and urban planners focus on the big picture, landscape architects create connecting, usually public spaces for everyone.

Cara Noreen Frey

Carolin Kemkes: Our bachelor's degree in open space planning at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences covered an enormous range of different topics in a very practical way. In the first semesters in particular, there were also basic modules and interdisciplinary projects together with students of landscape development and landscape architecture. This brought them into contact with related courses and allowed them to discuss different approaches and perspectives. In addition, guest lecturers
or specialists were regularly invited to speak on more specific topics.

In the Master's degree, there is a greater focus on research. Here, there are more references to urban and regional development and planning. Overall, the degree course in Osnabrück is therefore very interdisciplinary. I only see potential in dealing with the agriculture course on the same campus. In my opinion, future farmers have a significant influence on the future development of our landscape. I think a more intensive exchange of opinions and interests between the disciplines would generate more positive synergies.

Georg Spree: In short, not very good without commitment. There are no projects that are worked on together with architects, urban planners or similar professions, as is usual in professional life. Once a year there is an "Interdisciplinary Project Week", but as the name suggests, this only lasts one week and is not compulsory. This is my personal criticism of Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the teaching in Erfurt, especially when it still took place in person.

I personally have a great desire for networking and cooperation with other degree courses. This is especially true for the other professions that are eligible for the chamber. For this reason, I am also trying to set up a network that aims to connect architects, landscape architects, urban planners and interior designers across Germany. However, as there is no such thing as a national professional association for architects and interior designers, the process of coming together has been rather slow. However, the founding of an association (Nexture ), which is to represent all interior design and architecture students nationwide, is imminent.
So if there is to be a nationwide association of the above-mentioned fields of study in the near future, I hope that events on this platform will lead to far-reaching networking.

Prejudices against other disciplines would hopefully not arise in the first place. Your own horizons would be greatly expanded and it can only be an advantage for your professional career to have a Germany-wide network of acquaintances that covers a large part of planning professions.

Laura Stoib: The course is broadly diversified in its subject areas without losing the focus on landscape architecture and open space planning. This could be due to the fact that landscape architecture and landscape planning are taught at TU Munich as a dual course of study in the Bachelor's degree, as basic training, so to speak. In principle, seminars are offered - some of which are compulsory - in which students from different disciplines such as urban planning, nature conservation and landscape planning, geography, transportation planning, architecture, biology, etc. work together on a project. There is close cooperation with architecture students in the drawing and design courses.

In the 4th semester of the Bachelor's degree, students of architecture and landscape architecture work in a team on an urban planning project, giving them the opportunity to gain experience of what collaboration might be like later in their careers. There is a larger selection of interdisciplinary projects and seminars in the Master's in Landscape Architecture.

I see great potential, but above all the students' willingness to participate in more interdisciplinary university projects; there is room for improvement in terms of interdisciplinarity.

Rick Vogel: I studied at the HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen and always had the impression that the professors chose the project topics in such a way that we as students had to think outside the box as much as possible and were also confronted with the issues of other disciplines.

Aspects of urban planning, urban ecology, landscape planning and architecture often played a role.

Rick Vogel

As our faculty also offered courses in urban planning, landscape planning and nature conservation, as well as art therapy, you automatically gained an insight into these areas, not least through joint courses. I would have liked more input on structural architecture.

Sustainable can be beautiful, must be beautiful

Design versus sustainability - conflict or symbiosis?

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic: Doing equal justice to all pillars of sustainability presents us landscape architects with a huge challenge in all HOAI service phases. However, this topic should play a central role in all planning.

The design idea is often based on aspects of sustainability and is therefore decisive for the entire design. Such a symbiosis creates a deeper meaning and a certain sophistication. For example, the decision to use only regional building materials could avoid high transportation costs and the associated emissions as well as creating a strong link to the local area.

We believe that the symbiosis of design and sustainability leads to more innovative and forward-looking solutions in landscape architecture.

Carolin Kemkes: In my opinion, we live in a time in which we can no longer afford to make interventions in the landscape - and by that I also mean the urban and cultural landscape - that are not sustainable. I also think that sustainable or ecologically valuable projects in no way exclude aesthetic design - quite the opposite! Designing with plants or the principle of animal-aided design are good examples of this. But sustainability is of course not limited to the ecological component. On a social level, in my opinion, the participation of those affected offers the potential for sustainable, successful design. From an economic point of view, the use of regional products and building materials can create a symbiosis between design and sustainability.

Over time, I have come to realize that landscape architecture is an incredibly good instrument for putting this symbiosis into practice, for creating spaces that are intended for people and animals alike and in harmony with design and ecology.

Georg Spree: Clearly a symbiosis. However, I think that there should be a greater awareness, particularly in everyday professional life, but also in teaching, that planning that is not sustainable cannot be beautiful. Apart from that, most sustainable projects that I know of are no worse than conventional buildings in terms of design, on the contrary.

In order to implement sustainable construction in the future, I believe that every degree course that has to do with planning should include a module that teaches the topic of the circular economy. Producing and building more sustainably is one of the most important tasks of our construction and economic sector and, in my opinion, this approach would be an important step towards a more sustainable future. I believe that a clearer position, more intensive advertising and stronger lobbying by the Chamber of Architects on topics such as healthy, sustainable and circular construction are essential in this context. Personally, I am most looking forward to solving these difficult, complex and important tasks in/for the future in my later professional life.

Laura Stoib: Sustainability is a word that is becoming increasingly important; the trend towards sustainable construction is on the rise. Could this be due to the "Fridays for Future" movement or even the "first lockdown" (2020) and the associated self-reflection? I think the one has certainly reinforced the other.

In this sense, sustainability in design must be considered on several levels: Materiality, use of space or even the use and establishment of expansive vegetation. The symbiosis only arises when a project is sustainable at all levels of design. The knowledge, the will and good examples are available (e.g. cradle-to-cradle), but the costs and the time involved are usually the decisive reason for the client to ultimately decide against the sustainable option. That's why, unfortunately, all too often it only remains a discussion or even only a partial realization.

Rick Vogel: I don't see a conflict here, but I do have the impression that the term sustainability is often just used as an empty phrase and tends to be neglected in everyday planning. However, I can only conclude this based on my subjective experience. Anyone who uses the term should also try to implement it consistently and defend this with the client, within the possible framework.

The term sustainability seems very complex to me and the area of its application in planning is very multifaceted. The extent to which sustainability can be considered in planning certainly also depends on the openness of the client.

I think that sustainability as the reuse of certain elements, such as floor coverings, could certainly offer an exciting patina, depending on the respective planning.

Changing the way we treat our environment

Could the Fridays for Future movement create a new generation of landscape architects?

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic: Absolutely yes! An increasing number of people want to make a difference and no longer stand idly by; the younger generation in particular has developed a great awareness of the environment and is willing to make a difference.

Current issues such as climate and demographic change are making the relevance of high-quality, designed open spaces within cities ever more visible. Our profession can gain attention and this is exactly what we need to use to promote our profession, especially to school leavers. As representatives of the green sector, we can articulate the common interests that exist between us and the FfF movement and emphasize the green and sustainable image of landscape architecture. After all, landscape architecture is part of the solution for a climate-neutral future.

Cara Frey: The Fridays for Future movement has reinforced my belief in how important it is for everyone to make their contribution to greater sustainability. As a budding landscape architect, I see it as an exciting task to initiate and promote sustainability through design.

Carolin Kemkes: Absolutely! I've been to a few Fridays for Future events myself and the power that emanates from this mass of young, innovative-minded people is tremendous. Even those who might not really know what they're taking to the streets for at first realize, at the latest when they read the many different placards and hear the calls for demonstrations, that it's high time to change something about the way we treat our environment. I believe that many young people who attended these demonstrations will find out about possible careers that go in a green, sustainable direction, and courses of study and training in the field of landscape architecture
will definitely be one of them.

Georg Spree: This movement has played a large part in the rethinking that is currently taking place in society and also in landscape architecture. However, I think and hope that this rethinking will lead to change in some areas, not only in the future generation of landscape architects, but also in the current one.

Laura Stoib: With the awareness of more sustainability through "Fridays for Future", landscape architecture is certainly a discipline that is gaining in popularity and is therefore becoming more popular again as a field of study. When I started my studies at TU Munich in 2015, there were 36 first-semester students and 24 graduates when I completed my Bachelor's degree (2019). For the first semester in 2019, 73 first-semester students had already registered for the Bachelor's degree at TUM.

The "Fridays for Future" movement is certainly encouraging more discussion among the younger generation. In their current structure, cities are a major factor in global warming, but they have so much potential to counteract this through sustainable urban development in open spaces and buildings. Not only FfF, but also the current situation in which we find ourselves, has led us to rethink the importance of people within the city. The tendency to make districts car-free allows people to "re-conquer" street space as open space in a densely populated city. Retrospective greening of buildings through roof and façade greening as well as the establishment and maintenance of expansive vegetation are one thing. The newly gained open space must then also be designed and treated sustainably. We landscape architects play a major role here. The will of the residents is there, but the decision and development also depend on the city's own policies.

We landscape architects, as well as urban planners and architects, can play a decisive role by consciously developing projects that aim for sustainability at all levels.

Laura Sophie Stoib

Rick Vogel: I think every generation is confronted with different issues and problems of their own, which certainly affects their spirit. This generation will bring a new spirit to landscape architecture, which may lead to a stronger emphasis on certain aspects and perhaps already existing trends, such as the sustainability in projects that I just mentioned. The question of whether the increased interest of young people in our future environment will also lead to more people being interested in our profession of landscape architect is difficult to assess. As an essential part of our work involves dealing with the demands and needs of future users and generations, these people, who are already committed, are the right target group for a profession that is as forward-looking as it is pioneering.

Unfortunately, I often get the impression that landscape architecture lacks the necessary publicity. Hardly anyone I tell "I'm a landscape architect" knows anything about the term and the job description.

Gain experience as an employee first

How do you see your career prospects: freelance or employed?

Anna Dieffenbacher, Dijana Radojevic: For the time being, I would only consider employment in order to gain important professional experience and broaden my own horizons. In addition, we have to complete the AiP (Architect in Internship) for about two years after our studies in order to become eligible for the Chamber of Architects and to be allowed to work as freelance landscape architects. After our basic studies, we both decided to specialize in "Planning and Design" and thus primarily only learned part of the activities of a freelance landscape architect. As a result, we also lack the basic business knowledge that is important for setting up a company.

Perhaps in the distant future, with a little more experience and know-how, we can take the plunge into self-employment. Until then, it's all about studying hard.

Cara Frey: After completing my Master's thesis, I'm looking forward to becoming part of a team in a creative planning office and helping to shape the future.

Carolin Kemkes: For the future, I am driven by the inner desire to be able to make a small, albeit significant, contribution to local open space development that meets both aesthetic and sustainable requirements. Personally, I see clear advantages as a freelance landscape architect. Since the beginning of 2019, I have been working freelance for various landscape architecture firms parallel to my studies, mainly in the first three service phases and in the area of various visualizations. After my studies, it would be nice to work on more projects according to my own interests.

On the other hand, I notice how I miss my colleagues and the team, especially since I no longer have to study in person. Against this background, I could also imagine a compromise as a part-time employee. Either way, I'm excited to see what projects I can work on in the future!

Georg Spree: For the time being, I will probably work as an employee and I would like to work in different offices to gain as much experience as possible. In principle, however, I can well imagine running my own office one day. My vision is to meet a few nice architects, engineers, urban planners and interior designers sooner or later and then set up an interdisciplinary office with them. But who knows what will happen between now and then.

For me, the appeal of working freelance lies mainly in the fact that I can try things out for myself and see what my ideas are really worth. This is only possible to a limited extent in an employment relationship, as the boss ultimately has to answer for the design that I boldly create. I just hope that I will have a job in the future that satisfies me and feels meaningful to me.

Laura Stoib: I see my work in the near future as both freelance and employed. Be it projects, competitions or seminars at the university. Interdisciplinary collaboration is important to me in order to be able to pass on knowledge gained through experience and thus initiate discussions. So I see myself both in the office and as a teacher at the university/college. I am currently still in Zurich to work and at the same time to look for a suitable topic for my Master's thesis. During my years of studying and working as a student trainee, I have also realized how important even cross-border discussions and
the exchange of perspectives are for the design and handling of landscape architecture in urban development. By sharing knowledge and reflecting on your own work, you learn and develop.

Rick Vogel: Basically, I'm leaning towards becoming a freelancer. Even before I started my studies, I had the goal of being self-employed in my future profession and implementing my own ideas. However, it will certainly take a while until then. At the moment, I would like to gain experience as an employed landscape architect.

Thank you very much.

The questions were asked by Holger Winz, Siegmund und Winz Landschaftsarchitekten, Balingen, member of the bdla working group Young Landscape Architects.

Source: bdla association magazine "Landschaftsarchitekten" 2/2021

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