Almost from the outset FOLAR has - with generous permission from our speakers - recorded virtually all the talks we have held at symposia and online.There are currently over 130 recordings available under Past Talks and Specials. The Past Talks section covers topics ranging from the Festival Pleasure Gardens at Battersea Park, Susan Jellicoe’s photographs, The Open Spaces Society, working on Byker in Newcastle with Ralph Erskine to landscape designs that promote human health and well-being.
There are a number of talks that focus on women landscape designers, from Fanny Wilkinson, Marjory Lady Allen of Hurtwood, Brenda Colvin, and Sylvia Crowe in Bristol, to Elisabeth Beazley, Diana Armstrong Bell and other contemporary landscape architects in the can…
Our speakers include past presidents of the Landscape Institute - Brian Clouston, Hal Moggridge, Tim Gale; landscape academics - Ed Bennis, Jan Woudstra, Alan Powers, Luca Csepely-Knorr, Catharine Ward Thompson; historians - Elain Harwood, John Boughton, Katrina Navikas; practitioners – Annie Coombs; Neil Chapman, Jennette Emery-Wallis, Paul Rabbitts, Ian Baggott, young researchers – Joy Burgess, Sally Watson, Karen Fitzsimon and many more.
The Specials section includestalks celebrating the life and works of two of the Institute’s significant practitioners – Bran Clouston and Hal Moggridge; and a series of twenty one talks on the C20 designed landscapes that were added to the Historic England register in 2021.
So how can anybody find anything in all these recordings? The quickest way is to use the search box – type in a strong and simple key word linked with what you are searching for, eg play, Jellicoe, Sweden, and hopefully you will find something that is useful for you.
This particular group of six women in landscape design - Susan Jellicoe, Sheila Haywood, Brenda Colvin, Mary Mitchell, Marjory Allen and Marian Thompson -comprise some of the earliest pioneers in the profession who contributed to the expertise, development and awareness of the landscape profession in many different ways.
Read MoreIn his introduction Tim Gale stated that 4.6m adults seek help, each year, for mental health difficulties. However, while the need for sunlight, clean air and water, and green open space with trees - fundamental elements not only for sustaining a healthy population, but also for landscape architecture - have always been important in city design.
Read MoreA series of five online talks by FOLAR and the Gardens Trust on different approaches to community engagement with existing and new landscapes. The talks cover historic, contested, cherished, refurbished, political and unloved gardens and landscapes in the UK and overseas, and consider a variety of ways in which the public has and is being included, and to what end.
Read MoreFOLAR’s Landscape of Communities broadly focuses on projects or initiatives, predominantly on publicly accessible land, that are created and/or managed to the wishes of a local community. Five speakers from diverse organisations present insights to what can be and has been achieved. This symposium offered full opportunity for discussion with time for questions after each talk and a general discussion with the speakers at the end of the day, so everyone can have the opportunity to speak.
Read MoreWith a brilliant band of speakers - Dr Catherine Flinn, Luis Diaz, John Boughton, Dr Jan Woudstra and associate professor, Otto Saumarez Smith, these talks span from broad post war politics, the problems of getting UK redeveloped and who held the strings...
Read MoreByker in Newcastle was a social housing project led by architect Ralph Erskine starting in 1969. The aim was to rehouse an existing community living in condemned substandard and ‘slum’ housing, to phased, new-build homes, with close consultation as part of the process. Landscape architect Gerry Kemp was part of the original team working on Byker with Erskine,
Read MoreCARE - taking care of rural heritage, the countryside's future, and each other, was The MERL’s theme for 2021. FOLAR wanted to look at who it is that cares for good landscape design, and who enjoys it, and who cares about people having access to public open space and how this is measured,
Read MoreTeaching Landscape History (2024) edited by Jan Woudstra, David Jacques and Robert Holden is the informative and imaginative outcome of a two day hybrid conference Future History: teaching history in landscape schools, at Sheffield University in 2022. With contributors from international and academic backgrounds, and the opportunity and time to reflect
Read MoreThe 1951 Festival of Britain (FoB) was a national celebration of Britain following the Second World War, marking the 100th anniversary of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The FoB resulted in redevelopment of the South Bank of the River Thames as the main exhibition area - showing off architectures, landscapes, along with designs, colour, music, time for the nation to party!
Read MoreWhich open space and landscape preservation organisations were pressing for change in the 1920-1930s? What were they doing? Who were their supporters? How effective were they in raising awareness and making change happen? Do they still exist? Where and what are their archives?
Read MoreFour women with backgrounds in architecture, art and design, horticulture, and a photographer of designed landscapes, these are the focus of this series. It includes Elisabeth Beazley, Diana Armstrong Bell, Susan Jellicoe and Brenda Colvin. They have many other talents and skills, and
Read MoreExamining more recent landscape projects, this series of four talks covers the master-planning of a New Town in Hong Kong; implementing a regenerative planning approach designed to transform run down areas in northern English cities that embraces local culture and heritage
Read MoreFOLAR is launching a new oral history project to capture the memories and experiences of landscape architects. But how is oral history relevant to practising landscape architects? Who have we already got on tape? Who should be on the new list to be interviewed? Who else
Read MoreIn this series of five online illustrated talks, the early 20C UK approach to city planning, civic design and parks and gardens is considered. Presentations encompass the formation of the UK professional body of landscape architects, the evolving Royal Parks, and the impact of corporate landscapes in the UK and modern examples in US in Silicon Valley.
Read MoreTalks created for the Landscape Hour series and held during the first Covid shut-down days in spring 2020. These were instigated by Tom Turner and Robert Holden and organised in association with LI London, the Landscape Architecture Association and FOLAR. The aim was to gather online to watch ‘together’ and chat while they played.
Read MoreThis FOLAR symposium deals with the landscape design, planning and management of state financed industry, looking at post-war and current projects. State owned industries have had an enormous impact on the UK's landscape and on UK infrastructure, however …
Read MoreContinuing FOLAR’s series focusing on women in landscape architecture, we have three speakers here who have undertaken detailed research on the lives of these notable women, Fanny Wilkinson, Sylvia Crowe and Sheila Haywood. Historian and specialist on the women’s suffrage movement, Elizabeth Crawford became aware of Fanny Wilkinson through her circle of
Read MoreFOLAR presented three talks to students of landscape architecture and related disciplines at Kingston University about some of the design work and contributions made by women. Two of the women were operating within the newly founded Institute of Landscape Architects. The third ….
Read MoreFOLAR was eager to contribute a talk for ‘AniMERL an Autumn of animal events,’ held at and organised by The MERL. We offered a talk on serpents for this series. Farm animals - as it later transpired. They were a bit reluctant, and now we understand why they described this ‘unfarmy’ imposter having ‘slithered’ into their learned programme of historians and PhD researchers ….
Read MoreIn an ideal world, children find many different places outdoors where they enjoy freedom to play doing all sorts of activities and discover and learn a whole host of things from looking, dreaming, laughing, being with other children, testing skills and digging, building and much more. In reality, these sorts of public facilities today in the UK are as rare as hens teeth.
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