On 25 February 2026, a lecture by Professor Susan Herrington (University of British Columbia), Visiting Researcher at CECH-UC, took place in Sala Vítor de Matos on the 6th floor of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Coimbra. The event brought together students, researchers, and members of the public interested in the history of landscape architecture.

In her talk, 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁, Professor Herrington focused on the work of Christopher Tunnard (1910–1979) and its significance for modern landscape architecture. Professor Herrington situated his practice within the context of the early phases of the Bauhaus, while also highlighting the striking relevance of his ideas to the principles of the New European Bauhaus and to contemporary debates on inclusivity in design.

Particular attention was given to Tunnard’s relationship with Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, who, after emigrating to London in 1934, became one of his most important advocates. With Gropius’s support, Tunnard joined the Department of Landscape Architecture at Harvard in 1939, a move that significantly influenced the development of modern landscape architecture in North America.

A central focus of the lecture was the analysis of the St Ann’s Hill project in Surrey from the 1930s, designed by Tunnard in collaboration with architect Raymond McGrath for Tunnard and his partner, Arthur L. Schlesinger. Drawing on queer theory as a methodological lens, Professor Herrington presented the house and garden as an example of “queer domesticity” and of landscape design “hiding in plain sight,” subtly transgressing the aesthetic and social norms of the period.

An important part of the lecture was also devoted to Tunnard’s book Gardens in the Modern Landscape (1938), regarded as the first manifesto on the modern garden in the English language. The publication, highly admired by Gropius, had a profound impact on the formation of modernist landscape architecture in North America. The speaker emphasized a previously overlooked dimension of the book: the grounding of its aesthetic program in the thought of Walter Pater and its anticipation of key tenets of twentieth-century queer ecology. She also discussed how Tunnard—through his identification with William Shenstone—constructed a vision of modern queer masculinity in landscape design, notably by blurring boundaries in his planning theories for the English countryside.

In conclusion, Professor Herrington underscored the importance of inclusive narratives in the history of modern landscape architecture and the need to expand reflection on design practices in relation to gender and identity. The lecture was met with strong interest, confirming both the relevance of the issues addressed and the value of a critical, multi-perspectival approach to design history.

𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲: Susan Herrington is a professor at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of British Columbia, where she teaches history and theory in the field, as well as design studios in the Master’s programme in Landscape Architecture. Her research explores the spatial and material practices of contemporary landscape architects, analysing how landscapes influence the construction of nature, identity and space.

This event was organized within the scope of the Coimbra Bauhaus Local Chapter and the project CONVIVIUM: New European Bauhaus Solutions in Food, Living Heritage and Conviviality funded by the Horizon Europe Program (nº 101178921)

The lecture was open to all. A recording of the event is available below.