Bödeker Park, Saudi Arabia honors late ‘green’ German architect

German landscape architect Richard Bödeker.
German landscape architect Richard Bödeker.

German landscape architect Richard Bödeker was honored on Saturday by Saudi Arabia's minister of culture, Prince Badr bin Farhan, who named a public park after him in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter.

Bödeker, who recently died at the age of 82, worked in urban planning in Riyadh for 46 years, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Following the directives of Prince Badr, the Diplomatic Quarter General Authority named one of the largest gardens in the Diplomatic Quarter the Richard Bödeker Park.

Bödeker worked as a consultant for the former Riyadh City Development Authority- now the Royal Commission for Riyadh- since 1973, and has been in charge of planning several large projects in Riyadh.

His most notable work was in managing public parks in the capital, such as the Diplomatic Quarter and gardens surrounding the King Abdulaziz Historical Center and the National Museum.

The German architect spearheaded the idea of surrounding main hubs in Riyadh with green spaces and succeeded in transforming the area around the Palace of Governance into a vast park surrounded with 100 palm trees.

Bödeker contributed to the development of the landscape in Riyadh, and was responsible for the idea of irrigating and foresting Wadi Hanifa, which has become one of the most important sites in Riyadh.

DQGA's CEO Dr. Fahd Bin Mushayt expressed his support of Prince Badr's initiative, stressing that the directive is consistent with Saudi Arabia's appreciation of those who contributed to its development.

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