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.

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Bethlehem, Walled Off Hotel

Building design

The artist's famous works are immortalized in the rooms (photo via dezeen)

How do you make a political statement about the Middle East conflict in Palestine? Street icon Banksy has opened a hotel in the West Bank that can do more than just accommodate its guests.

In Bethlehem, right on the border with Israel, street artist Banksy opens the “Walled Off” hotel with the “ugliest view in the world”. This is the result of the rooms facing the border wall between the Palestinian territory and Israel, which is only five meters away. Beautiful landscapes or even sunlight are in short supply in the immediate vicinity of the building. With his hotel, art icon Banksy wants to make a statement against isolationism and fanaticism.

Banksy, who prefers to immortalize his works on bleak walls, has worked in Bethlehem before. The town is characterized by its border location and is criss-crossed by some not exactly attractive border walls. The graffiti, like the hotel that has now opened, is a political statement and is directed against the borders and the general situation between Palestinians and Israelis. At the opening, the artist ironically pointed out that he liked walls even before Donald Trump. The “Walled Off” opens its doors exactly 100 years after the Balfour Declaration, in which the British declared their support for the establishment of a state of Israel. In addition to the political exclamation mark, the hotel is also intended to revive tourism in the city and create jobs.

Detailed furnishings

In contrast to the surroundings and the exterior of the building, the interior was furnished with great care. In addition to Banksy’s world-famous paintings, the hotel also houses a gallery with largely unknown works by Palestinian artists. There is also a museum in the “Walled Off”, which provides information about the history of the region. The ten rooms are furnished differently, with categories ranging from multi-bed rooms to presidential suites.

New web platform of the Swiss Heritage Society on building culture 1975-2000

Building design
Aurelio Galfetti, Restoration of the Castelgrande, Bellinzona 1981-2000 Photo: Janin Scheidgegger / Swiss Heritage Society

Aurelio Galfetti, Restoration of the Castelgrande, Bellinzona 1981-2000 Photo: Janin Scheidgegger / Swiss Heritage Society

A new web platform from the Swiss Heritage Society brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. Discover the building culture of the last quarter of the last century!

A new web platform from the Swiss Heritage Society brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. Discover the building culture of the last quarter of the last century!

The Swiss building culture that emerged between the end of the boom years and the turn of the millennium has hardly been scientifically recorded. As these buildings are currently at risk of disappearing due to demolition, the Swiss Heritage Society wants to draw attention to the qualities of this period with the “Baukultur 1975-2000” initiative.

Following the Instagram channel @archimillennials last fall, the web platform www.heimatschutz.ch/1975-2000 has now been launched. It brings together around 100 buildings from Switzerland. The selection is representative of the architectural diversity of this period. The objects from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and engineering are accompanied by up-to-date photographs and short texts. The platform will also be expanded in future to include a number of digital tours in various Swiss cities and a publication.

Find out more here: www.heimatschutz.ch/1975-2000

Contact: Regula Steinmann, Project Manager Building Culture, Email: regula.steinmann@heimatschutz.ch