The Rosa Barba Casanovas International Landscape Architecture Prize honours the most outstanding completed landscape project from the last five years, with a €15,000 prize, finalist exhibitions, and presentations in Barcelona.
Dermot Foley and his agency, DFLA, are shortlisted for their Dublin project, Bridgefoot Street Park.
DFLA was established in 2001 and today is one of Ireland's most innovative and successful landscape architecture practices.
Bridgefoot Street Park is a low-tech, low-cost artistic expression of the environmental sciences. Over 2,000m³ of construction waste, diverted from landfill, are transformed into new topography and much needed green open space at the heart of Dublin City.
Martí Franch Batllori and agency Estudi Martí Franch Landscape Architecture (EMF) is shortlisted for the project, Park of Peace.
The Park is the result of a reconversion of the former Vicenza airport, located adjacent to a military base, and spans an area of 65 hectares.
Designed with advanced sustainable strategies, the park aspires to become a model for future urban parks, capable of actively managing and mitigating the impacts of climate change through nature-based solutions.
Dermot Foley was at Greenwich for one academic year, but found the course was a perfect match for his needs:
“The university tailor-made a mix of design and art modules such that I could move on from my science and horticulture background and prepare for what was then known as the postgraduate diploma.
“I completed the degree and moved to Paris just to be in an environment where I could absorb a design culture and then, later, I joined a masters programme at Edinburgh College of Art.
“The landscape school at Greenwich was an awakening for me. There was a friendly atmosphere and sense of community but at the same time the possibility of an intense immersion in the artistic side of things and this complemented my science background perfectly - it completed the foundation that I needed at degree level.
“Greenwich gave me the confidence to practise landscape architecture as an artist. I have fond memories and am grateful for the time spent with exceptional teachers, not least Lynn Kinnear. Lynn, together with Carol Jones, Ivan Tatum, Roger Seijo and other teachers promoted a free spirit, guided, prompted, directed but without being overbearing.
“Marti and I had very similar backgrounds in agricultural science and I think we were both seeking some sort of artistic emancipation. He became a source of inspiration for me. We ended up house-sharing in London and have been close ever since.”
For Marti, he had a longer stay at Greenwich:
“I did all my studies at Greenwich, earning both my Bachelor’s and Diploma between 1994 and 1998.
“My experience was similar to Dermot, with a technical background in horticulture, what struck me the most about Greenwich was the absolute freedom and artistic approach that pushed you to dive into design. It really helped me transition from the certainty of technical disciplines to the insecurity and doubt that come with landscape architecture.
“I was fascinated, and still am, by how landscape crosses from ecology to social aspects, crossing all scales and times. Greenwich taught me to embrace risk and to learn to make mistakes early so I could correct and reshape projects until they were fine or I exhausted every option.
“I have a particularly fond memory of Carol Jones, my first project professor, who welcomed a scared young student with limited English and convinced me that landscape architecture was my home. She was followed by Roger Seijo, who encouraged us to explore projects everywhere and stay curious and critic. In the background was Lynn Kinnear, who infused everything with an artistic outlook and was one of the few practicing landscape architects in the UK doing radical projects at that time.
“Greenwich attracted people from all over Europe, it was fantastic. Some German classmates encouraged me to work in Berlin. Later, I spent my "year out" in Amsterdam.
“All these experiences shaped an international perspective, brave and transgressive, because what’s impossible in one country, it was possible in another, overcoming preconceptions
“But certainly the best part was the friends, few in my case, yet enduring. Like Oriol, Ida, and Dermot, who is an exceptional landscape architect and should win Barcelona’s Landscape Biennial this year.”
The awards ceremony will take place on 21 November 2025.
