Andreas Kipar will be awarded with Halstenberg Prize 2024
The prestigious Halstenberg Prize, named after the politician and regional planner Prof. Dr. Friedrich Halstenberg, will be awarded to Prof. Andreas Kipar.
The Halstenberg Prize has been awarded for nine years by the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning (DASL) of North Rhine-Westphalia. It recognizes outstanding and pioneering achievements in urban and regional planning. As the 2024 laureate, Prof. Andreas Kipar will be honored with the Halstenberg Medal.
Halstenberg information
Andreas Kipar, landscape architect and urban planner, is the CEO and co-founder of LAND Srl, based in Milan. Born in Gelsenkirchen in 1960, he started his career as a gardener before studying landscape architecture at the University of Essen (GHS) and architecture and urban planning at Politecnico di Milano, where he now teaches Public Space and Landscape Design. His early works in Italy include Parco Nord in Milan, which led to the establishment of LAND in 1990. Today, the firm operates worldwide with offices in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland. Additionally, LAND Research Lab GmbH, based in Düsseldorf and founded in 2024, conducts research globally in both the public and private sectors. Internationally known projects include the Raggi Verdi in Milan and the European Green Capital Essen 2017, under which the Masterplan „Freiraum schafft Stadtraum“. Kipar was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit and, in November 2023, was appointed to the World Economic Forum’s Nature-Positive Cities Expert Task Force.
The Academy is honoring Kipar for his passionate contributions to landscape architecture and urban planning, particularly his ability to integrate nature into urban spaces and his commitment to sustainable development that balances ecological and social aspects. A brilliant career that will be outlined by Jens Hoffmann, Chief Operation Officer (COO) of LAND, through a selection of projects.
The prize will be presented at a ceremony on August 30, 2024, at the Baukunstarchiv NRW in Dortmund. The laudatory speech will be given by Dipl.-Ing. Hans-Jürgen Best, former Planning Director and Head of City Administration in Essen.
In a statement, Andreas Kipar emphasizes his commitment to consider both tradition and the future in his work: ” More than two decades ago, Prof. Dr. Karl Ganser highlighted the importance of landscapes by recognizing the connectivity and infrastructural value of open spaces. Around the same time, the European Landscape Convention emphasized the significant role of landscapes in shaping local cultures and overcoming the seemingly irreconcilable opposition between nature and culture.”
“Landscapes,” Andreas Kipar adds, “serve as multifunctional ecosystems that offer ecological, social, and economic benefits. Clean air, clean water, healthy soils, and biodiversity are now essential for sustainable development and human well-being in both urban and rural areas. The joy of walking through the landscape and reconnecting with nature can revive the link between nature and culture, especially in urban spaces. This is the essence of my work.”
The Halstenberg Prize, awarded annually by DASL NRW, celebrates the extensive contributions of Friedrich Halstenberg (1920-2010) in science, politics, regional planning, and spatial planning, particularly during the 1960s to 1980s. It remains the only regional planning prize in Germany.
Andreas Kipar joins a distinguished group of previous laureates, including the architect and urban planner Peter Zlonicky (2021), the Regional Director of the Ruhr Regional Association Karola Geiß-Netthöfel (2022), and the urban planning couple Friedrich Wolters and Leonore Wolters-Krebs (2023).
