Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award 2012 goes to Mihály Möcsényi

The Hungarian Professor Mihály Möcsényi today has been awarded with this year’s Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award at the IFLA World Congress in Capetown, South Africa. This award is the highest honour that the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) can bestow upon a landscape architect.

Born in 1919 Möcsényi has been engaged in IFLA for a long time and was elected Vice-president IFLA Central Region from 1982 to 1986 and IFLA President from 1986 to 1990. He had an essential role in integrating the Eastern European countries into IFLA and got involved with the opening up of these countries for international relationships, education and the starting up new national associations for landscape architects. As a teacher he had a constant, direct connection with professional practice and inspired thousands of Hungarian landscape architecture students. He also encouraged students to go abroad to widen their minds in the fields of landscape architecture, even when it was difficult because of political reasons. After the collapse of the communist system in Hungary in 1990, he was called back to the university, elected as rector from 1991 to 1993 and founded the Faculty of Landscape Architecture in Budapest in 1992.

His unique and lasting impact on the development of landscape architecture as a practitioner and on the promotion of the profession of landscape architecture have now been recognised by the members of the jury. Mihály Möcsényi has, within 70 years of active work, opened many doors, minds and hearts to an awareness of, and integration of landscape architecture.

Photo: Flóra Möcsényi