John Thompson obituary

For more than 30 years, John Thompson, who has died aged 74, was the city of Oxford's landscape architect. Si monumentum requiris, circumspice: his magnificent legacy to the city can be seen at every turn - he initiated Oxford in Bloom and the Forest of Oxford scheme, oversaw planting of trees in every crevice and corner of the city, and created enchanting wildlife sanctuaries in Boars Hill, Shotover, Cutteslowe, Grandpont, Wolvercote and Burgess Field. He was a passionate advocate of allowing nature as much freedom as possible by the promotion of indigenous species linking landscape to surrounding buildings.

He was also a collector of modern art and a passionate supporter of Bauhaus, Corbusier, brutalism, Didcot power station, modernism and postmodernism in all its guises. But this paradox emanated from his underlying deep aesthetic - an intuitive understanding of how landscape and buildings should interact harmoniously with each other.