Interview with Adriaan Geuze

On the evening of the 2 February the BKVB, the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, granted a lifetime achievement award to Adriaan Geuze, one of the founders and partner of West 8 urban design and landscape architecture of Rotterdam. Geuze impressed the jury with his way of contributing to the world of urban design, rural development and architecture via the discipline of landscape architecture. They praised his analytical capacity, his sharp eye and his power to stimulate and inspire his colleagues and clients, whom he gives more than they asked for. Furthermore the jury admired the way he positions environmental planning on the agenda in the Netherlands in a passionate way.

Topos Editor Peter Zöch asked Adriaan Geuze about his influence on the profession, his favourite project and about the importance of landscape architecture.

How would you describe your influence on landscape architecture and on other design professions?
Please, this is an interesting question for people in the field to consider if the work by West 8 is of any relevance.

What is in your opinion the most iconic and influential of your projects? Why? And what is your personal favourite and why?
Again, I really do not know which project did influence people or changed their mind-set.
For myself, most of the time, the last project is my favourite.

(Adriaan Geuze’s recent favourite project is the Miami Beach Soundscape, shown in the image on top. Credits: Robin Hill for West 8)

What are your sources of inspiration?
The main source of influence is the Dutch history of land making. Besides that, it is painting, music and poetry; I have a very romantic mind-set.

West 8 works internationally. What effect has the global financial crisis had and how are budget cuts affecting landscape architectural projects?
Luckily West 8 has an international portfolio and up till now we have been able to continue working on our projects.

Is West 8 dominated by one design discipline or do you consider it more of an interdisciplinary design agency? How many people work for West 8 at the moment and what is their professional background?
The Rotterdam studio today has a staff of 50 people. The strength of the studio is the team, most of them with an architectural background, being landscape architects, urban designers, graphic designers etc.

What are the most important current and future challenges for the planning and design professions?
I don’t know.

What is important for the future generation of landscape architects? Will landscape architects with their current education be an important player for future planning and design tasks?
Of course, landscape architects are able to bridge diverse specialist disciplines. They will always have an added value because of that.

As global player in the planning profession, what do you think about the discussion on global versus local design approaches, languages and styles? Do you see problems, when global players design in countries with different cultural backgrounds?
In architecture there seems to be a star architect reality. I think landscape architecture will head in that direction.