FromLeft,YingLi,PatBrownandLucyTauber,KingstonUniversityLondon,2010

Firstly,Iamverydelightedtobeinvitedtowritethisarticlefor“YouthLandscapeArchitecture’.Ialsothinkitdoeshavemeaningtorecordeveryone’slandscapelifeinthisSpring,especially,inAprilwhichisthe“InternationalLandscapeMonth”.Let’sgivethemostsincerethankstoallthelandscapearchitects,teachersandstudentsallovertheworld.

Then,Iamsopleasedtosharemylandscapejourneybasedonthreemainteachersinlandscapearchitecture.Thisisduetothefactthatlandscapearchitectureisauniqueprofession,whichismuchmoredependingonpersonaltalent,passionandexperience.Therefore,theteacherswhohaveleadmeandgivenmestrength,mightbemoresignificantthantheuniversitieswhichIhavegraduatedfrom.Iamgoingtopresentthreevaluablesentencesfrommythreedifferentteachers,whoarecalledmy‘landscapeAngels’.Ireallyhopethesesentencescouldalsoprovideinspirationtosomeonewholoveslandscape.

“Lovenature,lovesociety,lovehumansandloveyourself;haveyourownidea”
–ChiGao,April14th,2006,China

ChiGao（高翅）,VicePresidentandProfessorofLandscapeArchitectureinHuaZhongAgriculturalUniversity,China.Interestingly,whenwemetthefirsttime,Ididnotknowhewasaprofessor.IjusthadmanyquestionsinmyheadandIalsodidnotagreewithsomeideasofthefamouscontemporarylandscapearchitectsinChina.IcouldclearlyrememberthatItoldhimalotofmyownlandscapefeelingsandhekeptlisteningtomeforquitealongtimepatiently.IeventoldhimthatIalwaysskippedclassestogotofeeltherealsites.Finally,hesaid“Youareright,thefeelingofthesitesisthemostimportant’.Inthemeantime,Ifoundthathecouldunderstandmyspirit.Then,Iaskedhimhowtolearnlandscapewell.Unpredictably,hesaidlovenature,lovesociety,lovehumansandloveyourself,insteadofaskingmetoworkashardasIcan.IdobelievehimbecauseIcouldknowhimaswell.

Additionally,therewasafeelingthatanewgatehasbeenopenedbyhimandIhadconfidencetolearnlandscapeinmyownpathway.Twoyearslater,IbecamehisgraduatestudentandhetaughtmeinanboldwaywhichistogivemepermissiontodoeverythingIlikeinlandscapearchitecture.ThatwasadaringeducationinChinarecently.However,infacthewasright.Specially,onJune7th,2009,IwasinvitedindependentlytogivealecturetotheteachersinHeYuanTechniqueCollege.Thetitlewas“TheBeautyofChineseLandscapeArchitecture’’andIwasalsoalmosttheyoungestlandscapelecturerinChina.(CHLA,2009)IknowthatitdoesnotmeanhowexcellentIam,butitdefinitelydemonstratesthatMrGaoChi’sanamazingeducator.WhatIgetfromhimis“Love’’,thenmytaskistransmittingtheloveinlandscapearchitecturetootherstudents.

“Youareatranslator,findyourownlanguage,lovecantellyouwhattodo;Beprofessional.”
–MarthaSchwartz,September11th,London

MsMarthaSchwartz,AssociateProfessoroflandscapearchitectureHarvardUniversity,USA.Ishouldsaythattheeducationshehasgivenmeisabsolutelyfantastic.DuetothedaysIlivedinheroffice&homeinLondon,Itotallyunderstood‘whatislandscape’,‘whatisdesign’andhowafamousfemalelandscapearchitectcoordinateseverythingperfectly.InChina,Confuciusstatedin‘TheAnalectsofConfucius’that:”ShengTangRuShi’’,whichdescribedtheteacherletthestudentstaywithhimandapprenticethere.ThatisconsideredasaninstructiveandtraditionaleducationmethodinChina.Similarly,MarthaSchwartz,theAmericanprofessorteachesinthesamewaytomeasConfucius.Undoubtedly,sheisnotonlyanoutstandinglandscapearchitect,butsheisalsoaneducationalmaster.

Ialwaysrememberwhatshehavetoldmeduringthosedays,thequotationaboveistheoneshetoldmethefirstdaywemet.IknowthatImustworkveryhardtoachievewhatshehastaughtmeandIwillneverforgettheword“Professional”.Ihaveseenhowsheaskedthedesignerstore-designaprojectwhichwasnearlyfinished,justbecauseofaslighterroroftheBaseMap.Shewasextremelybusy,however,shebegantodrawthatBasemapherself.Itcanbeimaginedthatafamouslandscapearchitect,drawingaBaseMapherselfinordertoguaranteetheprofessionaldesignprocesses.Therefore,Ilearnedthatfabulouslandscapeworksarebasedontheextremelydemandingprofession.Definitely,ImustworkhardtolearnandtrymybesttolearnallthetimeduetoIhavealongwaytogoinordertoachievethegoal,beinghumbleandindustrious.

ThanksallthetalentdesignersinMSP,London:Thatwasawarmandharmoniousgroupandtheywereallmyrolemodelswhogavemegreathelp.

“Enjoyit,beambitious,haveyourownlandscapemanifesto,maybeyoucanwriteabookinthefuture.”
–PatBrown,April14th,2010KingstonUniversity,London

MsPatBrown,DirectorofLandscapeArchitectureinKingstonUniversity,London,whoismycurrenttutor.InthelandscapeinterfacestudioofKingstonUniversity,mostofstudentsarelocalandalsohaveworkexperiencebefore.Inthebeginning,IwassoworriedduetothefactthatIwastheonlyonewhohadnowesternlandscapeeducationamongthethirtygraduatestudents.However,wheneverIhaveatutorialwithPatBrown,mystrengthwillcomeoutbecauseshealwaysencouragesmeinaverydynamicway.Whatimpressedmedeeplyisthefirstpresentation,Patkeptlisteningtoallthepresentationsfromteno’clockinthemorninguntilatproximatlynineo’clockintheevening.Iwasalsothere,honestly,moststudentsweretiredandhungryincludingme,becauseoftheextremelongtime.However,PatBrownwasenergeticallthetime,neverhungryortiredanymore.Icouldnotbelievethatandaskherthereasonafterthepresentation.Sheanswered:“Ienjoyit!”Thisisasimpleanswer,buthaspoweras‘atombomb’.

ItiswidelyknownthattheArt,DesignandArchitectureschoolisveryfamousinLondon.whichLandscapeArchitectureDepartmentisin.Focusingontheindividualdevelopment,PatBrownhasfunctionalteachingmethodstoleadusandshealsodiscoversthepotentialofeverystudentsfromtheirownbackground.InChina,wecallit:YinCaiShiJiao,whichisalsohasthesameideaasConfucius,whoisthe‘father’ofChineseEducation.Additionally,PatBrownencouragemetohavemyownmanifestooflandscapeandshesupportsmeallthetimeandalsotriesherbesttohelpmylandscapeknowledge.

Inconclusion,thisismylandscapearchitectureeducationwhichIprefertocallit“AffectionateLandscapeJourney”.Theteachersaremyguide,wholeadsmeinthejourney,mythreeteachersareallhavecharismaandlovetheirstudents.Iwasprecioustohavetheeducationfromthem.Actually,Icouldwritetheintroductionoftheeducationtheseschools,however,itisbettertocheckthewebsites,ratherthanIwrotepersonally.Moreover,whatIcouldprovideittosharetherealinspirationIhavegotinlandscapearchitectureeducation,hopefully,itwillbringbenefittothereaders.Itislikethesurveyofthelandscapedesignsites,themostimportantisyourfeelingaboutitandtranslateaslandscapearchitecturetotheusers.

OffermymostsinceregratitudetoMsMarthaSchwartz,MsPatBrown,MrChiGaoandalllovelypersonswhoImetinthejourneyofLandscapeArchitecture.