Fredrik Magnus Piper

Fredrik Magnus Piper (1746–1824) was a Swedish landscape architect and architect. He introduced the theory and practice of the English landscape garden to Sweden. Among his tangible contributions are the creation of the general plan for the royal park Hagaparken in Stockholm, part of the current Royal National City Park, and contributions to the development of the park at Drottningholm Palace.

Aided by a letter of recommendation by af Chapman, Piper was introduced to William Chambers and to institutions such as the Royal Academy. During his stay in England, Piper was introduced to the then new theory and practice of English landscape gardens. He made well-executed drawings of The Leasowes, Painshill and Stourhead, and worked for a while at Chambers' firm. He later left England and continued his studies in France and Italy. In France he studied the gardens of André Le Nôtre and in Italy he made visits to the gardens at Villa Lante, Villa Doria Pamphili and Villa Aldobrandini. He returned briefly to England where he married in 1780, and then finally went back to Sweden. Chambers was unhappy that Piper had left England, writing to Admiral af Chapman to complain that he had not been consulted sufficiently. It appears, however, that Piper always held Chambers in high regard as "his first art teacher".

In Sweden he was quickly promoted and given prestigious commissions by King Gustav III, despite having an undiplomatic and overly straightforward demeanour. Most of his work was executed during the reign of Gustav III, who strongly supported Piper. After the assassination of the king in 1792, his activity declined.

Instead, Haga park outside Stockholm became Piper's chef d'oeuvre. He was given a wide mandate by the monarch to pursue his own ideas. He repeated the idea of the copper tent and Turkish pavilion, He wrote but never published a theoretical treatise on landscape gardening, and produced other theoretical works such as ideal plans.

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