FOLAR
Friends of the Landscape Archive at Reading

Celebrating Hal Moggridge's Career In Landscape Architecture

A celebration of Hal Moggridge’s Career in Landscape Architecture

FOLAR wanted to understand what impact working with two founding members of the Institute has had on his own approach to landscape architecture, but also in the positions he took on with the LI and IFLA. He has developed a broad and deep knowledge on many aspects of landscape architecture. FOLAR wanted to learn more about some of his key interests and their practical applications that cover both his commissioned and voluntary work. Through a varied programme of speakers and topics we hoped to discover more about his work, ideas, principles, and also about him.

How can such a quiet and modest man achieve so much?

Colvin and Moggridge is now the UK’s oldest landscape practice. The archives of both Hal Moggridge and Brenda Colvin are safely housed at MERL, fully catalogued and open to all: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/brenda-colvin.

One of the most valuable objectives with FOLAR’s celebrations on special lives is being able to discuss, ask questions, see projects and learn and also share so much more about different aspects of peoples’ life and work, rather than guessing or making assumptions.  We hope you will enjoy what you find here.

Hal Moggridge, OBE, is an architect, landscape architect, author, past president of the Landscape Institute (LI), twice winner of the LI gold medal, recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour. And, in September 2025, he was honoured with the IFLA (International Federation of Landscape Architects) President’s Award, given in recognition of his contribution for the advancement of the profession of landscape architecture through participation with IFLA.  

Continuing FOLAR’s special series celebrating the life and works of UK’s renowned landscape architects, Hal was an obvious choice. He has spent almost all of his working life in landscape architecture. Hal has spent his working life in landscape architecture. Throughout this time, he has shared his knowledge and wisdom guiding multiple landscape focused organisations and professional bodies at international, national, and local levels. Hal has long provided a compass of wisdom, generosity, and diplomacy. He sees landscapes not only as cultural treasures, but also tools for reconciliation and he embraces diversity as a strength. His courage, clarity, and humanistic vision continue to inspire. He continues working now as a consultant to his practice and advising on multiple committees, including FOLAR.  

We wanted to understand what impact working with two founding members of the Institute has had on his own approach to landscape architecture, but also in the positions he took on with the LI and IFLA.

6. The landscape architectural style of Hal Moggridge

About this video

Tom Turner was invited to consider the philosophical and theoretical approach which underpins Hal's work. He interprets this topic with a series of questions: where in the history of art does the landscape architecture of Hal Moggridge sit? He looks at style, art and then the man himself. Following the 13th IFLA Congress in Brussels in 1972, with its theme The gardener of the earth is the environment’s healer, Hal had organised a tour of UK gardens for the delegates, and subsequently suggested to Tom that he write a book as a visitor’s guide to Britain's gardens.

From the early days of the Institute, Brenda Colvin, Richard Sudell and others in the ILA organised the creation of county lists of predominantly historic gardens to inform both the new profession of landscape architects in the UK as well as overseas visitors. (These can be seen at the LI archive at The MERL), but these lists were never published. Tom's book proposal was turned down by his publisher. A presumed lack of interest 50 years ago for this sort of tourism is surprising and presumably the publishers missed a trick or two. But it took the Institute until 1994 with A Visitor’s Guide to 20C British Landscape Design compiled by Paul Walshe and Elsie Perciful, to finally get its act together on this matter. This was an initiative of the LI’s International Committee and published by the LI. Sheila Harvey, the LI librarian, received hundreds of inquiries from landscape architects worldwide for good examples of work to visit when they came to the UK. In his foreword, Paul Walshe anticipated a further and fuller edition, but as there is no longer an International Committee this book or a digital equivalent is probably not on anyone’s agenda now.

Returning to Tom's proposed book, this included a short history of landscape design, illustrated with thumbnail diagrams to show evolving styles. The number of diagrams grew over time. He follows on with more questions: does Hal see landscape architecture as one of the fine arts? The answer is yes. Tom wondered next if there are any strands of modernism in the work of Colvin & Moggridge? Or post-modernism evident in the work of Hal or Colvin & Moggridge? No to both. Tom's now 28 diagrams include a sustainable evolutionary style, designing with nature, which is evident from Hal's book Slow Growth. Brenda Colvin is undoubtedly the source for this influence, as per her book title Land and landscape, evolution, design and control. Tom states that while the dominant influential art style on modern landscape is from the De Stijl movement and its founder Mondrian, the other strand of modern art some landscape architects have been interested in is constructivism. For Tom, the best example of this style in Europe is Naum Gabo's revolving torsion sculpture at St Thomas' hospital; this work expresses dynamism and concern with space.

Henry VIII was the greatest open space planner London ever had, and yet, announces Tom, people remember him far too much for his wives and not enough for his landscape architecture. (Definitely a good subject for a book here.) Henry VIII established the public space at the focal point - now Horse Guards Parade - for the design structure of London, where the chain of royal parks Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park meets the (former) Palace of Whitehall, the residence of the Tudor monarchs. At Horse Guards Parade Hal restored the open space by removing car parking here, making this a dynamic people space and also changing the surface material from bitumen to gravel, which itself moves underfoot, changes colour in rain. The removal of a few trees blocking the view from St James’s park to Horse Guards was another dynamic act in the art of landscape design.

Hal’s work at Blenheim Park spans a succession of incidents in history from 1781 when the first plan was made, to 1981 the date of his commission, to a future plan 200 years ahead. Landscape design is about the design of space. Hal identified poetic views in London and produced a pamphlet on this. His viewpoint diagrams focus on space rather than on objects and show a clear visual kinship with Kandinsky. This is constructivist, spatial conception in design and brilliant. His contour plans for building heights for all the cities worldwide would make for much better cities. Skyline planning in cities was the subject of an LI London Branch talk with Hal, Tom Turner and Robert Holden. It was agreed they would write a London skyline policy paper for the LI London Branch, who forwarded it to HQ, who in turn asked them to prepare a policy paper on skyline planning around the world. Ten years later, and despite numerous requests, this unfortunately has not yet been published by the LI. Perhaps it will be to celebrate Hal’s 90th birthday, suggests Tom. If they are looking for an expert to approve the idea for publication, they wouldn’t find anyone because the greatest expert in skyline planning in the UK, Europe and even the world is Hal Moggridge.

About this series

Hal Moggridge was an obvious choice to continue FOLAR’s special series celebrating the life and works of UK’s renowned landscape architects. He has spent almost all of his working life in landscape architecture. Throughout this time, he has shared his knowledge and wisdom guiding multiple landscape focused organisations and professional bodies at international, national, and local levels. Hal has long provided a compass of wisdom, generosity, and diplomacy. He sees landscapes not only as cultural treasures, but also tools for reconciliation and embraces diversity as a strength. His courage, clarity, and humanistic vision continue to inspire. He continues working now as a consultant to his practice and as a volunteer advising on multiple committees, including FOLAR. Through a varied programme of speakers and topics we hoped to discover more about his work, ideas, principles, and also about him. How can such a quiet and modest man achieve so much? One of the most valuable objectives with FOLAR’s celebrations on special lives is being able to discuss, ask questions, see projects and learn and also share so much more about different aspects of peoples’ life and work, rather than guessing or making assumptions.

The archives of both Hal Moggridge and Brenda Colvin are at MERL, fully catalogued and open to all by appointment: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/brenda-colvin

The Landscape Institute collection at MERL: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collections/landscape-institute/

More information about FOLAR, and joining us https://www.folar.uk/

Annabel DownsComment