Frank Sleegers

Dipl.–ING, University of Hanover, Germany, 1996

MLA, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1995

Curriculum Vitae

Frank Sleegers is a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a registered landscape architect in Hamburg, Germany. Frank Sleegers holds graduate degrees from Hannover, Germany and UMass Amherst.

Professor Sleegers' work centers on strategies to rebuild urban environments through ecology, community, art and aesthetics in an interwoven comprehensive approach. He teaches design studios and courses in landscape architecture and urban design. He engages in underserved communities within the setting of urban design studios and design laboratories. 

As the Associate Director of UMass Amherst Design Center in Springfield, MA, Frank Sleegers provides meaningful community service learning experience for students and connects them with professional design and planning. Through this work and mentorship, his students have won numerous awards and design competitions. He has also served as the Director of the department's Zube Lecture series, which invites landscape architecture and regional planning experts to give weekly talks for students, faculty, and other audiences at UMass Amherst.

Professor Sleegers practices as a landscape architect with projects in Berlin and Hamburg. Built works include parks, plazas, and gardens. His public art focuses on urban places meant to transform perceptions. His recent work experiments with spontaneous urban vegetation on leftover sites. Sleegers' scholarly work investigates human perception and design aesthetics in relationship to stormwater management. His recent publications focus on the design philosophy and oeuvre of German landscape architect Gustav Lange.

Before joining the department, Frank Sleegers was an adjunct faculty at the Department for Urban Planning - HafenCity University Hamburg, Germany from 2002 to 2005.

LANDARCH/SCD 197Z: Lecture Series in Landscape Architecture, Regional Planning and Sustainability

LANDARCH  497A/497B:  Senior Studio Urban Design

LANDARCH  191/591: Graphics and Landscape Representation

LANDARCH  597Q: Urban Design Workshop

LANDARCH  607/608: Graduate Studio Urban Design

• Sleegers, F. (2024, November) Playing or Planning? Urban Voids, Wilderness and City Planning, presented at the Politecnico di Milano Department of Architecture and Urban Studies.
• Sleegers, F.  (2024). Gustav Lange and the Role of Design Composition in Mauerpark Berlin. Journal of Landscape Architecture, 3/2024: 18-37.
• Sleegers, F. (2023). Gustav Lange and the Role of Design Philosophy. Sciendo – The Journal of Sapientia. Hungarian University of Transylvania. Cultural Science Journal. 2/ 2023: 1-9. Presented at the 7th Conference on Horticulture and Landscape Architecture in Transylvania.
• Sleegers, F. (2022) Mauerpark Berlin – Investigating Design Language at Multiple Scales. Proceedings of the Fábos Conference on Landscape and Greenway Planning: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 35.
• Sleegers, F. (2020). Mauerpark Berlin: Balancing the Edge of a Park between Urban Vibrancy and Commemoration. 4D' Journal of Landscape Architecture and Garden Art. #55/2020: 28-37. The article features reflections of Sleegers' work as lead designer collaborating with German landscape architect Gustav Lange on the completion of the Mauerpark Berlin since 2016. He had a major impact on designing the major gateway into the park that accommodated artifacts of the Berlin Wall.
• Sleegers, F. and Hisle, M. (2018). Redesigning Abandoned Gas Stations through Phytotechnologies. In Phytoremediation: Management of Environmental Contaminants, 3-20, Ed.: A. Ansari, A., S. S. Gill, R. Gill, G. R. Lanza, and L. Newman. Volume 6, Springer Nature AG Switzerland AG.

• (2025, February 4). Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Students Help Springfield Reimagine Three Neighborhoods. Inside UMass.
• (2020, November). Transformation of downtown Northampton, MA through Tactical Urbanism, an interview with Smith College Professor Maria Succi, Department of Italian Studies. YouTube.

• (2023) CELA Faculty Award for Excellence in Service Learning - Senior Level. National award and recognition by the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.
• (2022) “Wohnen im Park.” [Housing in the Park]- First Place. Invited regional architectural realization design competition. Collaboration: Dirk Anders, Architekt, Hamburg, Germany