parks, civic spaces, schools and river
upgrades. This has also encouraged
specialization within landscape firms in
areas such as waterscapes (sponge city/rain
gardens), lighting or playground design.
New Chinese landscape architecture firms
are offering alternative models of practice.
Importantly, the slowing of economic
development and longer delivery
timeframes means that practices have more
potential to engage with the community –
offering the opportunity to bring the “soul/
heart of the people” into design. As Zhang
observes, working in the fast-paced
development model meant it was impossible
to enga ge w it h t he public or rev ise schemes.
The firm D+H (Design Plus Hope) is one
example of a new-generation Chinese
practice. The three principal design
directors have a mix of international and
Asian tertiary education, along with
practice experience at American and
Europea n f ir ms. Beg inning in a n off ice in
Los Angeles in 2011, the firm has expanded
to Shenzhen and Shanghai. Established as
an interdisciplinary design practice, D+H is
driven by a strong social agenda committed
to delivering positive change through the
power of planning and design. Its ambition
to improve the lives of people represents a
05major shift in design priorities from those
that drove the Chinese economic market.
Similarly, Z+T Studio, founded in Shanghai
in 2009 by Dong Zhang and Ziyang Tang,
offers an innovative practice model,
incorporating a landscape design atelier, art
workshop and a biophilic lab. The practice
is committed to working across ecology and
community wellbeing and bridging Eastern
and Western perspectives. The addition of
the art workshop in 2014, which includes
fabricators, engineers, contractors and
designers, significantly increased Z+T
St udio’s capacit y to enga ge w it h mater ia lit y
and fabrication processes, as evident in its
Yueyuan Courtyard design completed in- Located in the historic canal city of
Suzhou, the courtyard contains a
beautifully crafted water feature carved
into granite stone, ref lective of water
processes.
This brief discussion highlights the
evolving state of landscape architecture in
China and Singapore, as well as the rapid
increase in local capacity and expertise. As
Zhang comments, China’s fast development
process has produced a generation of
designers and project managers who have
extensive project experience. Equally the
introduction of international offices into
Singapore helped foster the local landscapeprofession and raise design ambitions more
generally across the Asian region.Australia has an important role to play in
supporting this unfolding terrain of
contemporary Asian landscape practice.
Asian students form a critical component
of our university alumni. Landscape
architecture programs should be working
act ively w it h a lum ni beyond t he bounda r ies
of Australia, offering support to a next
generation of landscape practitioners and
recognizing achievement through roles
such as adjunct professorships, and
invitations as guest speakers and to hold
exhibitions. Further, our programs could
take a closer look at their curriculum, which
is largely derived from Euro-North
American perspectives, and consider a
repositioning to reflect our place in an
emerging Asian design culture. This
includes encouraging stronger Asian
representation in our conferences and
seminars. As Tang half joked, perhaps we
could hold a conference themed around
“Asian solutions for Australian cities.” In a
refreshing change, Landscape Architecture
Australia is presenting a one-day
symposium in May 2018 that focuses on
the topic of “Sharing Local Knowledge
for a Global Future,” with speakers from
Singapore, South Korea, India, Thailand
and New Zealand. There is no question that
there are many exciting designs and
practice models emerging from Asia. From
a global perspective, we need to work harder
to uncover them, and more specifically from
an Australian outlook, we need to recognize
the considerable benefits of engaging more
comprehensively with the region.END NOTES- Jessica Mairs, “MVRDV transforms 1970s highway into
‘plant village’ in Seoul,” Dezeen website, 22 May 2017,
dezeen.com/2017/05/22/mvrdv-seoullo-7017-
conversion-overpass-highway-road-park-garden-
high-line-seoul-south-korea (accessed 3 October 2017). - Amy Frearson, “MVRDV to transform Seoul overpass
into High Line-inspired park,” Dezeen website, 13 May
2015, dezeen.com/2015/05/13/mvrdv-studio-makkink-
bey-transform-seoul-overpass-into-high-line-
inspired-park-seoul-skygarden (accessed 3 October
2017). - Rowa n Mo ore, “A ga rden br id ge t hat work s: how S e ou l
succeeded where London failed,” The Guardian
website, 20 May 2017, theguardian.com/cities/2017/
may/19/seoul-skygarden-south-korea-london-garden-
bridge (accessed 3 October 2017).