"To this day creating a contemporary kind of park remains one of the most difficult tasks for our profession".  Gunter Vogt 

The student work developed this year demonstrated the vital role that landscape architects can play in re-imagining tired and often under used local spaces that nonetheless remain full of potential. In each case the projects sought to positively contribute to climate resilience and the physical and mental health of citizens.  The focus for this year’s MA4 design studios was West Hendon Playing Fields and the wider landscape of Barnett in west London. West Hendon Playing Field was selected as it represents both a specific locale, on the edge of a reservoir in an area of London that is undergoing rapid change and gentrification, but also because it represents ‘any park’ an unloved, undervalued and even feared park in the middle of the city. 

The design studio sought to emphasise and reinforce the relationship between conceptual design and technical design rigour. The role and skill of the landscape architect is founded on the ability to be both visionary, helping people imagine what a future landscape will look like; and pragmatic, developing the technical details that underpin the best designed landscapes.