Landscape Architecture – Utilizing Space

To me, Landscape Architecture is a profession that is able to utilize the outdoor spaces to cope with the needs and desires of people. It is able to make use of unused or wasted spaces, or plan undeveloped spaces to

solve problems such as circulation, overpopulation, preservation of nature, and lots of other land use matters. Not only does landscape architecture solve various problems related to land use, the solution also needs to be pleasant in terms of aesthetics to the people as well. The elaboration of landscapes I believe first started out as gardening. People wanted to be able to enjoy the products of plant, such as flowers and fruits, so they start growing plants at locations where it’s easily reachable. Landscape architecture developed along with changes in the society. As people get wealthier, they possess more land, and have unlimited supply of food. Land no longer needs to be used agriculturally, so more and more of it functioned as places for entertainment, and served the purpose of flaunting a person’s wealth and power. Today, landscape architecture has become a very important element in our daily lives as people start to seek for better living environments. We are starting to pay more attention to our surroundings. To me, landscape architecture is also a way of flaunting culture. The desired landscape designs of people from different cultures vary, since aesthetics in different cultures are different as well. This results in designing landscapes with elements of a certain culture with a modern twist to fit with the values and views of the present, which I consider to be highly artistic.

How I see myself in the career of landscape architecture seems somehow unclear. However, I wish that someday I can be self-employed and create my own firm. If I could, I wish I can be designing public spaces that are not too large in scale. The reason for that is I see many small public places around me that are left unused and appear unattractive. There are always small bits and pieces here and there in the public that are just abandoned and unattended which I see as opportunities to make it into an attractive, cozy little spots. Together, these small places adds up to a lot, and by transforming these places around us, I believe that everyone would feel that the environment that we are living in suddenly became a bit more pleasant that before, which I feel is important in promoting the overall quality of the society. Rather than trying to create new places and encourage development, I am more interested in the improving of the existing.

I am also very interested in the past traditional gardens, parks, and designs in my own culture. The concepts behind the landscape designing in China such as “Feng Shui”, and the idea that “man and nature are one” show through every element in Chinese architectures and gardens. It fascinates me deeply. If possible, I wish I am able to design the traditional gardens and parks as great as the master pieces from the past. However, I feel that these ancient gardens and parks were not taken care of that well. Most of them are left unattended and in ruins, which I feel is a great loss. So I might also consider working in the field of preservation of past gardens and parks in the future as well.