RMP Stephan Lenzen Landscape Architects
radicalis “going to the root, from the ground up,” from radix (Latin) “the root.”
RMPSL landscape architects use the meaning of the term “radical” in their exhibition as a basis, metaphor, and connecting element. On the one hand, the firm is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2026 and reflecting on its projects from the 1950s and 1960s with a series of large-format black-and-white photos. It is aware of its roots and sees them as the basis for further development. Adapting our living spaces to the consequences of climate change requires doubling the amount of tree-covered and unsealed open spaces. Vegetation, especially urban trees, plays a central role in this. The exhibition therefore focuses on the subsoil as the root space of vegetation and aims to sensitize visitors to the importance of this invisible element. To symbolically illustrate the spatial extent of the roots of a 30-year-old tree, a 24-cubic-meter container stands in the middle of the exhibition. Videos produced at the Jülich Research Center show the aesthetic potential of growing root systems.
The term “optimism” also ties in with the genesis of the office and draws parallels with the vegetative optimism of young roots. In general, optimism refers to a cheerful, confident, and life-affirming attitude, as well as positive expectations for future developments—even without any certainty. For RMPSL, this attitude is an important value in project and office development.
For RMPSL, the combination of these two terms also has a social dimension. Despite justified disappointments, the networked and systemic transformation that literally goes back to the roots opens up the chance for a positive future. However, RMPSL does not understand this as blind optimism, but rather in the sense of Ernst Bloch as “optimism with a black ribbon.” Their credo is: We must rethink the urban underground of cities: Let's give the roots space and work together to create a strong network of green, blue, and diverse infrastructure for livable cities of the future!
Heinrich Raderschall founded the office in Bonn in 1951, and in 1971, Heinrich Raderschall, Carl Möhrer, and Friedrich-Wilhelm Peters formed the RMP partnership. Stephan Lenzen joined the office in 1999 and has been its sole owner since 2004. Today, RMPSL has 85 employees and branches in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Mannheim. Its most important projects include Dycker Feld (2002), the Federal Horticultural Show in Koblenz (2011), Talauenpark Waibligen (2019), and Grünzug Nordost + Klimapark Mannheim (2023). RMPSL is currently planning, among other things, the State Garden Shows in Windsheim (2027) and Günzburg (2029), the City Hall and Marx-Engels Forum in Berlin (2027), and the Elbinselquartier in Hamburg (2028). Stephan Lenzen is president of the bdla Bund Deutscher Landschaftsarchitekten (Association of German Landscape Architects) and teaches at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences.
Opening: March 12, 2026, 7 p.m.
Talk: April 16, 2026, 7 p.m.