2020 Winners Practitioners

Landezine team recognizes Berlin based landscape architecture and architecture office Topotek 1 as the winner of the LILA 2020 Office Award. The portfolio of Topotek 1 reflects a unique conceptual approach that is dedicated to solving social issues and practicing landscape architecture as a multilayered and creative cultural discipline. Besides their landscape projects, the editors of Landezine acknowledge their exhibition and book Creative Infidelities, which is a playful yet sober reflection on both their own work and landscape architecture as an open-ended design profession. A quote from Jorge Luis Borges featured in the exhibition perfectly illustrates Topotek 1’s approach to the notions of identity, honesty, and context in terms of landscape design: “The original is unfaithful to the translation”.

LILA Office Award 2020 goes to Topotek 1 for their ability to design layered projects and above all for their refreshing and daring colorfulness in conceptual thinking, which the Landezine team would truly wish to see more of in landscape architecture offices around the world.

The Landezine team recognizes the work of Charles A. Birnbaum as an outstanding contribution to the global community of landscape architects. His work has been focused on advocating for the cultural value of landscape heritage in the US. In 1998, Birnbaum founded TCLF – The Cultural Landscape Foundation – which acts as a bridge between American cultural landscapes and the public. Through the various complex programmes and initiatives of TCLF, Birnbaum has shown an ambitious and innovative vision, executed with great precision, enthusiasm and perseverance.

The condition for the landscape architecture community to thrive in a society lies in an understanding of the work we do. Birnbaum has been continuously working on deepening this understanding and communicating the values of the American landscape heritage, both for the places and the people that shaped them.