| Piper
Study Grant: Desprez's works in park of Haga
- page 8/9 |
09/2000 |
Frederik
Magnus Piper
Frederik Magnus Piper, born in
1746 the same year as Gustave III, was the designer of the
XVIIIth century " English park " at Haga.
The landscape gardens, containing various architectural features,
are located on the lake of Brunnsviken, north of Stockholm.
Very little is available about
the life and work of Piper and a preliminary research presents
more questions than gives facts.
From a noble family of Sweden,
Piper studied architecture abroad before he joined the court of
Gustave III in 1780.
Having learnt his craft in
England, like many architects of his generation, Piper
introduced to Sweden the English landscape garden.
Breaking with past, the formal
French garden, Piper was aiming at a carefully designed "romantic"
landscape with winding paths, artificial hills and strong open
views. The eye was led to architectural features. One of his
buildings, the Turkish Pavilion, can still be seen today.
It is though another architect
who was to take over the duty to make Haga the place that
Gustave was dreaming for: Desprez . And it is the work of the
favourite architect of Gustave which is evident today.
Was Gustave, with his
infatuation for the French architect, solely responsible for the
change of architect at Haga?
How much did the trip of 1784,
to Italy and France, change the taste of the king?
Two other works of Piper, are
known for sure: the country house of Bjärka-Säby and the
residence of the British ambassador, Listonhill. Considering the
small size of these commissions, was Piper in fact a
professional architect?
Piper had also been involved
in designs and alterations to the park of Drottningholm. There
his work can again be seen in relation to the architecture of
Desprez: the Dejeuner Salong, designed by Desprez in
1791, make a double gateway to the park, kingdom of nature and
the theatre, realm of artifice.
Considering the feel of unity
and beauty, one wonders what was the working relationship
between the two architects, Desprez and Piper?
Desprez died in 1804, Piper
in1824. When the strong and formidable figure of the French
architect had disappeared, what happened to the work of Piper?
The buildings of Haga
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