IFLA FBP COMMITTEE

Hermann Georg Gunnlaugsson

FBP Committee Chair/IFLA Treasurer

landslagsarkitekt FÍLA / Landscape Architect Dipl. Ing. (FH) / City Planning MSc

Hermann graduated 1996 from Fachhochschule Weihenstephan in Germany with a Landscape Architecture degree Dipl. Ing. (FH). After 2 years working experience at the Icelandic National Planning Agency and in the office Landslag ehf he founded together with his college Ólafur Melsted the office Teiknistofan Storð ehf in 1999.

Storð landscape has been working both in landscape design and planning for municipalities and the icelandic government and private contractors in Iceland for more the 25 years. Hermann worked on Landscape projects for housing project for Búseti co-operative building association in Smiðjuholt at Einholt 6-12 and Þverholt 15-23, Keilugrandi 1-11 and Árskógar 5-7 in Reykjavík. Landscape design for  Nurshinghome Hulduhlíð in Eskifjörður in 2011 and landscape design for Sund Upper Secondary School in 2013 after a design competition.

In 2019 graduated Hermann with a MSc in City Planning from the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) and his thiese was a study on Kindergarten environment in city planning in Stockholm and Reykjavík. Hermann has been involved with many landscape design projects for Kindergartens, School yards and playgrounds in Iceland. He is interested in further research on design and children's environment in the future.

Experience and academy

Owner of Teiknistofan Storð ehf / Stord landscape Laugavegi 178, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland since 1999.

Adjunct Lecturer and Program Director of BSc Program in Landscape Architecture at the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI) 2021-2022. External Lecturer August to December 2022.

Assistant Professor at AUI from 2003 to 2005.

Volunteer work

Federations of the Icelandic Landscape Architects FÍLA. President from 2013-2016 and member of FÍLA since 1997.

IFLA Europe Treasurer 2023 – 2024

Member of FBP Committee since 2014

IFLA Europe Treasurer 2020-2022.

IFLA Europe Vice-President for Professional Practice from October 2015 to October2019.

Dr Madonna Nawar

IFLA Africa Treasurer

Madonna Nawar is graduated With a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the Faculty of Urban and Regional Planning. She graduated with top honors in 2008/2009. Her academic journey continued with a Master’s degree in 2017 and a Ph.D. in 2022 from Cairo University, focusing on the impact of landscape planning on cultural heritage sites in Egypt.

With a robust academic career, Madonna worked as an Instructor, Teaching Assistant, and Lecturer at Cairo University. Her research includes significant publications on urban sprawl and cultural heritage, and she has contributed to the book “Connecting Cairo to the Nile.”

Her professional experience spans roles as a Landscape Architect and Urban Designer at many Egyptian companies with high-profile projects. Madonna is also a board member and treasurer of the Egyptian Society of Landscape Architecture (ESLA).

Madonna is known for her exceptional analytical skills, dedication, and continuous learning. Her personal skills include excellent communication, time management, and problem-solving abilities, making her a valuable asset in any team.

Vincent Asselin

IFLA Americas Treasurer

Mr. Asselin is a graduate of the Université de Montréal (Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, 1978; Master’s in applied sciences - Landscape Architecture, 1995). He is a founding member of award-winning firm WAA+ and founding member of WAA Montreal Inc, WAA International Ltd. Shanghai (WOFE of WAA Inc.) and WAA Design Sdn. Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mr. Asselin has been involved for over 40 years in the Québec and the Canadian professional associations, having served as president of both the Québec and Canada Associations of Landscape Architects, AAPQ and CSLA). A Fellow of the CSLA (FCSLA) since 1993, he has made ample contributions as a member of numerous AAPQ and CSLA committees and task forces. After serving as Vice-President for many years, Mr. Asselin was elected President of the LACF-FAPC (Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation) in June 2015. He also presently serves as the “international expert in urban planning and landscape” for the Shanghai Science and Technology Committee (STC), an organizing body that advises the City of Shanghai on planning and sustainable design practices. In addition to his active practice and volunteer efforts, Mr. Asselin has been guest speaker and professor at the Landscape Architecture program at the University of Montréal. Since 2019, Mr. Asselin is the CSLA delegate to IFLA and IFLA AR treasurer.

Among his many accolades, Mr. Asselin received the Magnolia Silver Medal Award for “extraordinary contribution to the City of Shanghai”. More recently, in June of 2012, he was honoured by the Premier of Québec with the prestigious title of “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec” (Knight of the National Order of Québec, “CQ”). The Order recognizes the excellence and merit of “outstanding individuals who have helped increase Québec’s renown and left a strong, lasting mark on all or part of Québec”. This honour is the highest award the Québec Government can bestow. Recently, with Malaka Ackaoui FCSLA, received the Prix Ernest-Cormier 2020 (the highest recognition by the Government of Québec for their work in Landscape Architecture). In 2021, Malaka and Vincent also received, from Grands-Prix du-Design du Québec, the life time recognition Prix Homage 2021.

Matt Chu

IFLA Asia-Pacific Treasurer

Originally trained as an environmental engineer in Taiwan, Matt Chu received his master’s degree in landscape architecture and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania. Since then, he has practiced landscape architecture and urban design over 25 years in the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Currently he is the associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chinese Culture University in Taipei.

Matt Chu is a United States registered landscape architect and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. He worked in the United States for over ten years with the world-renowned landscape architecture and urban design firm Olin Partnership (Now OLIN). In 2008, Matt Chu joined AECOM and was based in Beijing; from 2014 in Hong Kong. In 2020, Mr. Chu went back to Taiwan and founded a landscape architecture practice named SCAPE PLUS. This now six-person design studio focuses on public works as well as public arts in Taiwan. He also co-founded a media company called DAODI New Media with exclusive members of the Taiwan Institute of Landscape Architects to promote education and latest information on landscape design and environmental conservation. 

In addition to his active practice, Mr. Chu engaged in academia by teaching at the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chungyuan Christian University and later in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chinese Culture University and in the Architecture Program at the Shih-Chien University. From 2022, he has joined the Chinese Taiwan Landscape Architects Society and representing Taiwan as the delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects.

John Boon

IFLA Europe Treasurer

John Boon (Hoorn, The Netherlands, 1969) comes from a horticultural family. His ancestors were closely involved in the Flora Bovenkarspel, the world’s largest indoor flower bulb exhibition. As a child, his interest in landscape architecture was thus stimulated. John studied in Boskoop (Van Hall Larenstein, University of applied sciences, B.Sc.) and Amsterdam (Amsterdam University of the Arts, Academy of Architecture, M.LA.). Already as a student, he became board member of NVTL (The Dutch Association for Landscape Architecture). He also got involved with ELASA (European Landscape Architecture Students’ Association). In 1997 he was board member of the association that organized the ELASA-meeting in The Netherlands. In 2008, John got involved with IFLA World as board member of the association that organized the world congress in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. In his professional career John is director Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Arcadis Nederland BV. The crown on his work came in 2007 when he was appointed chief designer of the world horticultural exhibition Floriade 2012 in Venlo (The Netherlands). Since then, he has been working on prestigious projects at home and abroad. Beside of that he is commissioner at a foundation which operates three monumental cemeteries in Hilversum and consultant from the professional world at Van Hall Larenstein, University of Applied Science. John is married to Marieke (also active in our sector) and has two sons: Fedde (2012) and Lars (2005).