Interview with Chuxiong Feng from the United States

The landscapes of my hometown, Wuxi, with its interweaving rivers, lakes, wetlands, and famous traditional Chinese gardens, played a significant role in my decision.

Growing up surrounded by these poetic landscapes, I developed a profound appreciation for a healthy and livable nature-culture relationship, which continues to inspire and guide me along my professional career.

I am currently working as a freelance landscape architect, focusing on design competitions and volunteering at the local Arboretum. I enjoy exploring the field and discovering details and knowledge that can't be found in front of a computer screen.

Previously, I served as a project manager at SWA Group, where I led city-wide master planning and large mixed-use projects in Shanghai and Suzhou. Prior to that, I worked at Mikyoung Kim Design and LeBlanc Jones in Boston, where I played a pivotal role in numerous urban renewal projects and got exposed to all phases of built projects.

These experiences have provided me with a comprehensive understanding of both large and small-scale projects, from conceptual ideas to detailed execution.

For me, design is about taking on challenges and solving problems through imaginative creations. It's also an art of balancing opinions and selling ideas, as I've discovered through my communications with a diverse range of stakeholders, including architects, civil engineers, ecological experts, and government officials.

I enjoy working with landscapes that can actively engage the public in urban contexts. To be more specific, urban renewal and urban wild projects are my favorite types because they're always challenging, require multi-disciplinary approaches and embody rich layers of nature and culture.

A good design achieves maximum impact with minimal elements, solving existing and potential problems in both rational and intuitive ways. It also embodies great cultural, natural, social and aesthetic values.

My design style is characterized by playfulness and imagination, grounded in rational analysis and a keen understanding of site conditions and client objectives.

Throughout my education and professional journey, I've developed a passion for juxtaposing nature and non-nature elements, employing visually striking geometries and creative manipulation of topography. Blurring the boundaries between landscape and public art, my designs challenge conventional norms and aim to provide delightful surprises in people's daily routines.

Observation, imagination, and collaboration are key elements of my design process. It all starts with a thorough observation of the site with questions in mind, seeking inspiring moments that serve as threads of my design.

Imagination is the most enjoyable and challenging part as I develop an overarching concept to guide the direction, often using hand and digital sketches to explore interesting ideas.

Finally, coordination is presumably the longest phase of the design, involving synchronizing efforts among different parties to ensure the successful translation of conceptual ideas into reality.

Absolutely. I was born in a region famous for its garden culture and philosophy, characterized by unique scenario-based design tactics that create illusions of expansiveness and depth, and evoke emotional experiences.

The dynamic, poetic, and naturalistic ethos of traditional Chinese gardens has profoundly shaped my understanding of landscape architecture.

Winning Silvers in the MUSE Design Awards for both the Garden and Small-scale Landscape categories is a great honor! It's a milestone for my past work and a motivation for more future challenges.

The Living Log is a proposal shortlisted in the 25th International Garden Festival at Jardin des Martis, Canada. This installation draws inspiration from my everyday hiking experiences in the forest, aiming to exhibit and amplify the power and charm of wilderness and nature to visitors from an uncommon perspective. It's my favorite competition project in the year of 2024.

This is a conceptual proposal for a real project, so creating a simple yet powerful design solution while considering materials and cost was definitely the biggest challenge for me.

It encouraged me to keep practicing and exploring opportunities internationally. The award has also helped me gain more recognition in the field.

Shaping spaces used by everyone, respecting nature and its patterns, and making the built environment greener and more sustainable.

My country has a rich history of unique architecture, garden design, and philosophy, deeply ingrained in our culture. But what sets us apart is the dynamic clash between the old and new.

Over the past two decades, China has become a global testing ground for pioneering design talents, creating a vibrant landscape of creativity, interaction, and fusion that keeps the industry constantly evolving.

The application of generative AI will be incorporated into our daily practice.

Always keep your mindset fresh, creative and reject the status quo.

ArchDaily, Designboom, Dezeen and Pinterest are my common resources for inspiration. Websites like the American Society of Landscape Architecture and Landscape Architecture Magazine offer practical and in-depth articles.

All you need is just interest and curiosity.

Design is a collaborative effort. A successful project often hinges on having a supportive client.

Honestly, everyone I've met in this industry has been pretty inspiring. They've all brought something different to the table and helped me see things from new angles.

Specifically for this project, my collaborator Shangyuan Li has been a great source of inspiration. Her stunning digital illustrations really motivated me to trim the excess of our design, making our concept stronger.

For me, it's all about staying proactive when challenges come knocking, and, most importantly, not holding back your imagination right from the start. I believe that even the wildest ideas have a shot at becoming reality if we give them a chance to shine.

Thank you very for the award and for providing such a great platform! I hope to come back next year with another exciting project.