FOLAR
Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

Past Talks

Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

Past Talks

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.

 

Landscape Of Communities - FOLAR Symposium 2023

FOLAR’s annual symposium for 2023, the Landscape of Communities, focuses on amenity landscapes which respond first to the wishes and ways of the local community, whether local residents or workers. In this symposium, presentations cover public open spaces including commons, woods and parks; school grounds; historic development of landscapes between terraced housing; graveyards, pocket parks and fragmented inner city spaces, and refurbishing landscapes to existing estates.

Speakers representing different organisations, including charities, trusts, private practice and academia share their experience and expertise in enabling a broad spectrum of people and of all ages to engage with range of different landscape initiatives.

The FOLAR symposiums are held at The MERL Reading where a bespoke exhibition of relevant archival material is displayed for delegates to view.

  • Introductions Annabel Downs, and Carolin Göhler - symposium chair

  • Leah McNally, London Wildlife Trust; People and places

  • Guy Redmond, Leaves of Green; Developing community and cultural landscapes a practical guide

  • Jan Woudstra, University of Sheffield; Early experiments in building communities: Robert Marnock’s design for Ladbroke Grove in context

  • Helen John, Landscape consultant; The many lives of Crossbones Graveyard and Garden of Remembrance, an intergenerational legacy

  • Sarah Cooke, Groundwork London; Community Landscapes Effective community engagement and design excellence

Annabel DownsComment