Global design studio mmcité hosts an annual conference, known as The Street, to celebrate landscape architecture, urban design and city planning. Traditionally, they take their clients on a tour of the company’s birthplace in the Czech Republic. There are many educational experiences, opportunities for designers to exchange ideas, and of course, beautiful sites and delicious food.

This year, they took things a step further and hosted a “field trip" to tour some of Europe’s most beautiful and unique cities. Principal Scott Toschlog joined 10 other landscape architects from across the U.S. on a whirlwind trip exploring Vienna, Budapest, Brno and Prague.

Stop #1: Vienna, Austria

To kick things off, the group met in Vienna, where a local architect gave them insight into both the historical and modern architecture of the city. Scott was fascinated by the juxtaposition of old and new, and how the different types of architecture managed to flow together. There were several large public plazas where people, cars, buses, bikes and the light rail all flowed through freely with little to no markings or signage. Somehow, it all worked and created a beautiful public space where people felt safe. Another interesting thing Scott noticed was a lack of trees in the central downtown area.

Stop #2: Budapest, Hungary 

The next stop was Budapest, Scott’s favorite part of this trip. “Budapest was absolutely beautiful,” he recalled. “The streetscape was really nice, the scale of the buildings and plazas felt great, and the architecture was amazing. Everywhere you looked, there was some type of amazing modern architecture.”

The group met up with a local landscape architect for a tour of the newly constructed Széllkapu Park. It’s adjacent to Millenáris Park, and during construction, the road dividing the two parks was moved underground so they could connect and make one great space. The group also visited the city’s main park, known as City Park, which spans over 100 acres. It provides the city with amenities like a skating rink, skate park, playgrounds and an outdoor music venue.

They also visited the old castle and caught some amazing views of the Danube River against the cityscape. Scott mentioned that, as they were walking through the city, he noticed several different street drainage systems that he found interesting. Landscape architects are always thinking of grading and drainage—and getting inspiration on ways to do it better! That evening, they took a dinner cruise on the Danube and saw some of the architecture from the water.

Stop #3: Bilovice, Czech Republic

On the way to Brno, the next stop on the tour was the mmcité headquarters in Bilovice. At the furniture factory Scott noticed how the staff took such gentle care over each tiny element of the products. He said it was obvious how much they cared about their craft. He also got to see some new products and took a ton of photos for inspiration on some upcoming projects. Street furniture is such an important element of public realm design and, when done well, helps create a great sense of place.

Stop #4: Brno, Czech Republic

After visiting mmcité, the group visited Brno and stayed near the city’s central town square where all the action was. In the morning, they joined the locals at a farmers market and then walked through the city to check out the history and architecture. Scott was amazed at the amount of grade change through the city and couldn’t help but think about how to make the spaces more ADA compliant. Other countries don’t have as strict of standards as the U.S. when it comes to designing for mobility-challenged people, and it’s difficult to retrofit historic cities that have a lot of stairs and cobblestone streets. Scott noted that being a landscape architect in Europe would be very different than it is in the United States.

Stop #5: Prague, Czech Republic

The group’s final stop was Prague, which was apparently the most crowded with tourists at that time of year (travel tip!). They spent their time wandering the streets and visiting historic sites. Scott’s favorite part was walking along the riverside and exploring the different bridges. He was fascinated by a riverside platform with a trellis that appeared to be planted with an espaliered Sycamore. After further research, we realized it’s a cousin of the American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) and is in the Platanus spp. family—possibly a London Plane Tree.

After exploring those amazing cities and learning from other landscape architects, Scott came back to Orlando with a million ideas running through his head. He shared details of his trip with the team to pass on the inspiration to the rest of the firm. And even though the rest of us were jealous, we received some indirect benefits from this trip as well!

Big shout out to Jana Tyrer who invited Scott to take this adventure with her and her team. And thank you to mmcité for your continued partnership and dedication to your craft.