The Canadian Centre for Architecture, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Montréal, presents The Landscape of Asphalt, a lecture by Gabriele G. Kiefer on Thursday, 6 October at 7 pm in the Paul Desmarais Theatre. One of the leading contemporary landscape architects in Germany, Kiefer’s work features in the major exhibition Sense of the City, opening 26 October at the CCA.

Landscape architecture, for Kiefer, extends beyond conventional elements of garden design to incorporate open, flexible spaces and urban materials such as asphalt and steel. Wide expanses are set in contrast with the dense core of the city, offering sites free of prescribed functions and open to multiple activities. Rich in contextual and historical associations, Kiefer’s innovative and often playful projects have influenced a younger generation of urban planners.

The projects of Büro Kiefer (Berlin), of which Gabriele Kiefer is founder and principal, range from public plazas and parks, to transformed industrial sites, schools, and roof gardens. Clearly defined structures and reduced forms, contrasting materials, and bold graphic elements are characteristics of Büro Kiefer’s work. The studio has also recently produced a German-English volume on their design process entitled Büro Kiefer: Rekombinationen/Recombinations.