International Federation of Landscape Architects 75: Uncovering Hidden Histories in Landscape Architecture
IFLA 75 (2022-2024) was an AHRC funded research network that brought together, strengthened and expanded international expertise in landscape architecture with the key aim of uncover hidden histories.
Led by Luca Csepely-Knorr, Ulrike Krippner (BOKU Vienna) and Imke van Hellemondt (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), the project built on existing mechanisms to facilitate opportunities for international collaboration. The project worked in close partnership with the Network of European Landscape Architecture Archives (NELA) and convened archivists, researchers and educators from several European countries, who collaborated for the first time to research and discuss archival documents relating to the history and current role of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA).
Established in Cambridge, UK in 1948, IFLA remains a crucial network for knowledge transfer, progress and professionalisation of landscape architecture addressing enduring challenges in our built environment. Documents relating to activities of the Federation, its national organisations and key members are dispersed across several European archives. Therefore, a thematic focus on IFLA underpinned the need for close international collaboration in enriched our understanding of its history and impact on the profession of landscape architecture, as well as enhancing our current knowledge of the international impact of British landscape architects and professional bodies in both historical and contemporary contexts. A key outcome of the project is an international, online, co-curated exhibition hosted by the Museum of English Rural Life.
Throughout the project the network succeeded in fostering collaboration, increased the visibility, capacity and use of archives in research, teaching and practice, and recovered the legacy of several previously overlooked figures.
Links
To find out more about the project visit their website
Online exhibition at the Museum of English Rural Life’s website
Staff Members
Image: Brenda Colvin’s photo of an IFLA event © MERL AR COL