Mourning for Angela Bezzenberger, landscape architect

Landscape architect Angela Bezzenberger was self-employed in Stuttgart and later worked in her own office in Darmstadt. She taught at various universities and was a great advocate of her profession. She passed away at the beginning of October 2023. A tribute.

Angela Bezzenberger left us, her family, friends and colleagues on October 2, 2023, shortly before her 68th birthday.

She studied architecture/urban planning/landscape architecture at the Gesamthochschule Kassel from 1974 to 1980. This course of study at the interface with other disciplines was fundamental to her professional career. In 1980, she moved to Stuttgart to work for Valentien+Valentien. When the Valentiens moved near Munich in 1982 to continue their teaching and office work there, Angela Bezzenberger began working independently in partnership with Brigitte Schmelzer. Many special projects for the Stuttgart region, such as the Stuttgart Landscape Park – awarded the Landscape Architecture Prize in 1997 – and the Böblingen City Garden, both together with Janson und Wolfrum Architekten und Stadtplaner, date back to this time.

In 1995, Angela Bezzenberger moved to Darmstadt after the birth of her daughter and continued her work in her own office. Many projects were successfully realized by interdisciplinary working groups following initial competition awards.

Her analytical approach to the diverse tasks of landscape architecture and her questioning of traditional ideas were the prerequisites for her regular jury work in landscape architecture and urban planning competitions.

Angela Bezzenberger was a life-affirming, cheerful person – she could laugh about many things. She impressed with her enthusiasm and her wide-ranging professional knowledge. She was very open and always approachable. Her special ability to bond with other people also helped her in her dealings with her colleagues and team partners.

Thanks to her design skills and her convincing argumentation on issues relating to private and public open spaces – whose sustainability requirements have become a priority in a vibrant city in recent years – she found multifunctional solutions. Added to this was the aspiration to combine ecology and aesthetics and to convey a changed image of urbanity.

Her lively illustrations contributed greatly to the understanding and acceptance of her work through her talent for drawing.

During her teaching activities at the University of Stuttgart, Biberach University of Applied Sciences, TU Munich, GH Kassel and HfWU Nürtingen-Geislingen, she was also able to convey her design approaches to students, supported by the illustration of her own realized projects.

Angela Bezzenberger was also a great advocate of our profession. She was initially a member of the Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Architects and, from 1995, of the DASL and DGGL in Hesse.

Angela Bezzenberger has successfully overcome illness in recent years. She did not allow this to overwhelm her and continued to mobilize her strength in her work as a landscape architect right to the end – she was passionate about her profession right to the end.

Her designs remain alive in her successful projects.