Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan, minister of culture and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Diplomatic Quarter General Authority (DQGA), opened on Wednesday a park named after the famous German landscape architect Richard Bödeker in the Diplomatic Quarter here.

Bödeker’s family, who came from Germany, and German Ambassador Jorg Ranau were among those who were present at the ceremony to honor the architect’s 46-year-long contributions in urban planning and landscape engineering in the Kingdom, in particular in the Diplomatic Quarter.

Following the directive of Prince Badr, DQGA named Stone Park, one of the largest parks in the Diplomatic Quarter, as Richard Bödeker Park.

In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, the minister welcomed the family of Bödeker, saying: “We gather here today to appreciate the efforts of a late engineer, who contributed to urban planning as well as to the development of dry areas and the engineering of green spaces for 46 years in the Riyadh region, especially in the Diplomatic Quarter neighborhood of which he loved and offered a lot of dedicated work.”

Prince Badr also emphasized that the Kingdom does not forget anyone who worked for it, whether citizens or expatriates.

Prince Badr said one of the major parks in the Diplomatic Quarter was named after Bödeker in honor of his professionalism and appreciation of his efforts.

“This is one of the parks for which he worked as well as for many other parks and sites in the capital city, especially in the Diplomatic Quarter. We also appreciate the efforts of everyone for their work and experiences in mixing local culture with the global one in one place,” he said.

On his part, Jens Bödeker, son of Bödeker, thanked on behalf of his family, the initiative of DQGA while expressing their pride in giving their father’s name to one of his favorite parks. He also drew attention to the respect and appreciation of his father for Saudi Arabia and its people as well as for their culture and environment.

Emphasizing that his father left a legacy in the desert, he said that his family would do everything to continue his vision, strengthen cooperation with the Kingdom, and complete their father’s contributions that spanned over more than four decades.

Bödeker, who died at the age of 82 in 2019, worked as a consultant to the previous Arriyad Development Authority (Royal Commission for Riyadh now), since 1973, and has been in charge of planning several large projects in Riyadh.

His most notable effort was the coordination of 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 presented an idea of surrounding the main hubs in Riyadh with green spaces and succeeded in transforming the area around the Palace of Governance into a vast park surrounded by 100 palms.

Bödeker contributed to presenting inspiring ideas for the development of the landscape in Riyadh. He also gave the idea for irrigation and afforestation of Wadi Hanifa, which has become one of the most important sites in Riyadh.