DesignTalks 2023 - Peter Veenstra, landscape architect and co-founder of LOLA Landscape Architects

Peter Veenstra, landscape architect and co-founder of LOLA Landscape Architects will be speaking at DesignTalks 2023 on 3rd May in Harpa.

Peter Veenstra is a landscape architect and co-founder of LOLA Landscape Architects, based in Rotterdam, Holland and Shenzhen, China. LOLA is an acronym for Lost Landscapes, which is born out of a fascination for the adventurous fringe, poetic leftover space and spontaneous nature. The growth of the office has led to large projects like the Adidas HQ Campus and Shenzhen Bay Park. With self-initiated design research and curatorial work, Peter keeps on working on topics that deserve more attention in the field of (landscape) architecture. Recent research focused on post-disaster landscapes, carbon positive land use, afforestation and climate adaptation in the urban environment. In 2013 he received the Rotterdam Maaskant Prize for Young Architects and the TOPOS landscape award in 2014. Last year, Peter co-curated the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, titled ‘It’s About Time – The Architecture of Change’. Peter co-wrote LOLA’s first monograph, ‘Lost Landscapes’, and the second, ‘In Search of Sharawadgi’. In Search of Sharawadgi, was written in collaboration with the renowned garden designer Piet Oudlof, who’s previous design includes the New York High Line and Oudolf Garden in Detroit. The book introduces the reader to Oudolf’s and LOLA's ultimate vision for the future: a global forest against the warming of the earth, a dream that can start in anyone’s garden, however big or small.

DesignTalks 2023 will take place in Harpa on the 3rd of May and is curated by Hlin Helga Guðlaugsdóttir. 

This year’s theme is What now? and the event will tackle this question, explore and showcase some answers and alternatives, discuss current challenges for designers and architects and, if successful, raise even more questions!

DesignTalks addresses the challenges the world is facing and highlights the importance of design and architecture in societal and global change, with talks about impactful projects and inspiring conversations. Designers, architects and creative thinkers, international and local, provide insight into pressing issues with passion. Nothing is off limits.