Mourning for Angela Bezzenberger, landscape architect

Building design
Portrait of a smiling woman with glasses and chin-length hair. Mourning for landscape architect Angela Bezzenberger - a tribute, photo: private

Photo: private

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.

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.

POTREBBE INTERESSARTI ANCHE

As the population increases, so does the density stress in Swiss cities and conurbations. At the same time, outdoor recreation and sport are becoming more important. A 2014 publication on the greater Zurich area provides examples of how existing green spaces can be made more accessible. Pieter Poldervaart analyzes the results in the December issue of G+L. The study Freiraumnetz Zürich can be […]

As the population increases, so does the density stress in Swiss cities and conurbations. At the same time, outdoor recreation and sport are becoming more important. A 2014 publication on the greater Zurich area provides examples of how existing green spaces can be made more accessible. Pieter Poldervaart analyzes the results in the December issue of G+L. You can download the Freiraumnetz Zürich study here.

8.42 million people lived in Switzerland in 2017, compared to 7.08 million or 19 percent fewer twenty years ago. In the past, this annual growth of one percent and the increasing demand for living space per capita was accompanied by a partly unchecked urban sprawl. Greater Zurich is particularly affected by the rapid growth in the resident population. Three million people live in the perimeter defined as the Zurich metropolitan area, which includes not only the canton of Zurich but also numerous municipalities in neighboring cantons and even in neighboring southern Germany.

Forecasts suggest that 30,000 people per year will continue to move to Switzerland’s economic center. In addition to housing and jobs, these people also need recreational space. In 2014, the Zurich Metropolitan Area Association therefore published an outline that shows the way to a “settlement-related open space network” – as the title suggests. In addition to describing the problem, the guide aims to show how existing recreational areas can be upgraded and new ones created and how planning is possible across municipal and cantonal boundaries. You can download the study here.

You can read the full article in G+L 12/18.

One brick prize, many awards

Building design
Main prizewinner of the German Brick Award 2019

City library

German Brick Award 2019 presented – one prize, many awards for exemplary energy projects

The results of the German Brick Award 2019 were announced on February 1: 120 submissions of exemplary energy-efficient brick projects from all over Germany made the decision difficult for the jury, chaired by Piero Bruno from the Berlin office of Bruno Fioretti Marquez. The high design quality ultimately led to a large number of awards – two main prizes, six special prizes in various categories and eight commendations.

The main prize for monolithic construction was deservedly awarded to Harris + Kurrle Architekten from Stuttgart for the municipal library in Rottenburg am Neckar. The jury praised “the sensitive positioning of the remarkable new building as a communicative and contemplative place in the fabric of the city”. It also praised the public building for its skillful, creative use of monolithic exterior wall constructions made of highly insulating bricks.

An extension

The main prize for multi-shell construction went to the remarkable extension to the Philosophy Department of the University of Münster by Peter Böhm Architekten from Cologne. “The building, modestly described as a ‘shelf wall’, cleverly incorporates the existing listed building and forms an attractive façade opposite the historic Fürstenberghaus,” said the jury. “In this case, the haptic brick becomes synonymous with sensual appeal and a cleverly reduced, ornamental appearance.”

A special prize for energy efficiency

Several special prizes were also awarded, including one for “Cost-effective, energy-efficient multi-storey residential construction”. This was won by the Ulm-based firm Braunger Wörtz Architekten with their project at Vorwerkstrasse 23/1 in Neu-Ulm. The new building for the Neu-Ulm housing association (NUWOG) comprises 31 publicly subsidized, barrier-free rental apartments in a six-storey building and is designed as a KfW Efficiency House 70. The jury: “The uncomplicated design with monolithic brick exterior walls, which are finished with a white cement scratch coat that does not require painting, guarantees this residential building a low-maintenance, long life.”

Awarded by: Ziegelzentrum Süd e.V. in cooperation with the
Federal Ministry of the Interior
www.ziegel.com

The exhibition can be seen until February 15, 2019 at the Haus der Architektur, Waisenhausstraße 4 in Munich. It will then travel to various universities.

Photos: Roland Halbe; Lukas Roth; Erich Spahn