Fredrik Magnus Piper

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Fredrik Magnus Piper (1746–1824) was a Swedish landscape architect and architect who brought the English landscape garden to Sweden. His work includes the general plan for Hagaparken, the royal park in Stockholm, and contributions to the park at Drottningholm Palace.

Piper came from a noble family, though his father was ennobled only in 1776. He studied math and hydraulics at Uppsala University (1764–66) and then trained as an engineer at Trollhättan and at the naval base in Karlskrona, where he befriended Admiral Fredrik Henrik af Chapman who supported his artistic ambitions. After further study in Stockholm, partly with architect Carl Fredrik Adelcrantz, he traveled to the United Kingdom to study. He left Sweden in 1773 and returned in 1780.

In England, aided by a letter of recommendation from af Chapman, Piper met William Chambers and the Royal Academy and learned the new ideas of English landscape gardening. He made drawings of The Leasowes, Painshill and Stourhead and worked for a while at Chambers’ firm. He then continued his studies in France and Italy, studying the gardens of André Le Nôtre in France and visiting gardens such as Villa Lante, Villa Doria Pamphili and Villa Aldobrandini in Italy. He briefly returned to England, married in 1780, and then went back to Sweden. Chambers valued Piper as his first art teacher, though he was unhappy that Piper left England.

Back in Sweden, Piper was quickly promoted and received important commissions from King Gustav III, who supported him. After the king’s assassination in 1792, Piper’s activity declined. One of his first projects after returning was a design for Drottningholm Palace Park, but the king had his own ideas for reshaping it. Piper’s own plans included copper tents and Turkish pavilions.

Piper’s major achievement was Hagaparken outside Stockholm, where he introduced the English landscape garden style. He designed large oval lawns (pelouses), arranged monuments and pavilions within the landscape, and integrated architecture into the landscape with few steps or gravel borders. Although the full plan was not completed, Hagaparken largely reflects his vision. He also created park designs for other sites, such as Hogland Park in Karlskrona and Bellevue Park in Stockholm.

As an architect he designed the main building of Bjärka-Säby Castle (c. 1796) and Listonhill villa on Djurgården (1790–91). Piper wrote theoretical works on landscape gardening, though they were never published, along with other ideal plans. He was known as a skilled and adaptable designer, able to work in both radical and traditional styles.