grant associates monogram
23rd Mar 2018

Grant Associates presents at Landscape50

Andrew Grant, director and founder of landscape architect Grant Associates, has presented a talk at the landmark event marking the 50th Anniversary of the Department of Landscape at the University of Sheffield.

Landscape50 was a one-day conference organised by the university with the aim of exploring a bold future for landscape architecture.

In his presentation ‘Future Cities and Blue-eyed black lemurs’, Andrew discussed the opportunities for addressing global issues of habitat loss and climate change through landscape architecture, and the need for landscape architects to take a greater responsibility and lead in addressing these issues in their day-to-day work.

Drawing on his extensive landscape design experience, Andrew touched on Grant Associates’ international projects, including Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay and other more local examples such as Bathscape and Forest of Imagination in Bath, to discuss the future connections of humans and nature in urban environments.

Andrew also discussed a project Grant Associates is developing with Bristol Zoological Society and the Richard Feilden Foundation, in conjunction with Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, to save Madagascar’s critically endangered wildlife and its forest habitat.

A Visiting Professor to the university’s Department of Landscape,  Andrew presented alongside a cast of global leaders at the forefront of landscape architecture.

Speakers at Landscape50 included Teresa Moller, owner of Teresa Moller Landscape Studio in Santiago, Chile; Stig Andersson, founder of SLA Architects based in Copenhagen; Mohan Rao, principal designer at Integrated Design (INDÉ) in Bangalore; and Ceylan Belek Ombregt and Matthew Short of Martha Schwartz Partners based in London.

In addition, the event saw presentations by Julian Agyeman, Professor at Tufts University, Massachusetts; Joan Nassauer, Professor at the University of Michigan; architect and author Thomas Rainer based in Washington DC; David Sim, director at Gehl in Copenhagen; and Richard Weller, co-director of the Ian L McHarg Centre at the University of Pennsylvania.

Sheffield University’s Department of Landscape Architecture was the first independent school of its sort to be established in the UK and now ranks as a leading global research and teaching unit.