4 Mary Mitchell - life and landscapes

Описание: Mary Mitchell (1923–1988) has been in the shadows of the history of our profession - even though she remains one of only four women landscape architects with an ODNB entry. Trying to find to find sufficient research material to build up a picture of Mary Mitchell's life and works has proved challenging, but from incomplete threads, surviving examples of work, and still on the look-out for those who knew her directly, or indirectly, Joy Burgess presents a fuller picture of Mary Mitchell; how she became a landscape architect, her most important period of work with Birmingham City Architects Dept creating landscapes of play, and more. Via the work with the Land Army, and subsequent horticultural work and study at RHS Wisley and East of Scotland College of Agriculture she discovered landscape architecture. She gained a diploma in landscape design at UCL and went to work briefly with Richard Sudell before joining Ann Sutton (Swanley trained) in South Africa. On her return to the UK she worked at Stevenage New Town, and then as a qualified landscape architect she set up the first landscape department within Birmingham City Architects Department and where AG Sheppard Fidler as the city architect had identified the need for the role of a landscape designer. Play and playable sculpture (working with John Bridgeman) became an early focus for Mitchell in association with the city's housebuilding programme. Also from the outset, it is clear that Mary Mitchell is interested in the work and ideas on play by Marjory Allen.

JOY BURGESS is a lecturer in landscape studies at the University of Liverpool where she is currently carrying out her PhD in collaboration with Historic England. Her PhD looks to tell the histories of female landscape architects in post-war Britain. Joy also works on the editorial team for the Women’s History Network Journal and has recently been a research assistant alongside Professor Luca Csepely-Knorr on the AHRC projects - IFLA 75: Uncovering hidden histories in Landscape Architecture and Women of the Welfare Landscape

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ABOUT THIS SERIES OF TALKS
Although perhaps uniquely the profession of landscape architecture has enjoyed an equal balance of male and female members, however, the lives, work and records of women members has been less well represented. FOLAR's ongoing talk series has endeavoured to correct this imbalance. This group of six comprises some of the earliest pioneers in the profession who contributed to the expertise, development and awareness of the landscape profession in many different ways. It also includes two women from later generations, inspired by the work of earlier designers and who went on to find their own paths.

MORE INFORMATION

Contact The MERL for additional information on and by Mary Mitchell in the Institute Journals, membership files etc. [email protected] or telephone +44 (0) 118 378 8660
The Landscape Institute collection at MERL: https://merl.reading.ac.uk/collection...

More information about FOLAR and joining: https://www.folar.uk

Speaker: Joy Burgess
29 January 2025