Gustav Ammann

Recently I completed a book on landscape architecture, a book that includes a project by Gustav Ammann. When starting the book I was not aware of the Swiss landscape architect who died in 1955, even though he is considered one of the most important – if not the most important – modern landscape architects in Switzerland last century. Eventually my research brought me to a park that now carries his name, a landscape that was created as a workers garden but is now part of a neighborhood – Oerlikon – that is far from industrial. To learn more about his design and the motivations of the architect, I bought this hard-to-find book on Amazon, the only place I could find it (not even libraries in NYC carry it).

Ammann explains his ideas on landscapes, particularly gardens, but in a refreshing twist he illustrates them with projects by other designers, not just his own. Geared to the general public as well as fellow landscape architects, he discusses landscapes in eight typological chapters. Most are residential, but one is "factory and welfare gardens," indicating that his eponymous park is but one example of what was being carried out in the 1940s. Although certainly dated, the trilingual format and straightforward layout, with large photos, short project descriptions, and easy-to-follow plans, is well worth emulating, even today.… (mehr)