Alive – Aesthetics in the Anthropocene
Can landscape architects play a role in countering the multiple crises in an epoch often termed the Anthropocene for the profound changes wrought by human activities on all things planetary? Is it not frivolous to think about form, space, and beauty these days? Lisa Diedrich proposes that this is exactly how to stay alive. Her lecture draws on the voices and projects published in the 7th issue of the book series Landscape Architecture Europe (2025), a collective work by professionals and academics of landscape architecture, urban design, and the arts. Shaping space, they claim, makes a difference in building social, ecological, and economic realities, and their aesthetics can convey concern, critique, commitment, collaboration, and change.
Prof. Ph.D. Lisa Babette Diedrich is a professor of landscape architecture at the Technical University of Berlin, directing the ÉLAN Chair of Designing Landscapes in the Anthropocene. Her research and teaching focuses on radicant design and transformation, on water landscapes across continents and cultures, on working with landscape fragilities, and on designerly thinking as a basis for transdisciplinary research. Lisa studied architecture and urbanism in Paris, Marseille and Stuttgart, journalism in Berlin, and landscape architecture at the University of Copenhagen, where she received her doctoral degree. She is editor-in-chief of the book series Landscape Architecture Europe and co-editor-in-chief of ’scape the international magazine for landscape architecture and urbanism.
