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Interview with Sun Hu |
Home > Designer Interviews > Sun Hu |
Editor Frank Scott (FS) from DesignPRWire has interviewed designer Sun Hu (SH) for A’ Design Award and Competition. You can access the full profile of Sun Hu by clicking here.
FS: Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?
SH: I learned landscape major from Nanjing Forestry University and earned my bachelor’s degree in 1998. Since then, I worked in landscape field over 22 years already.
FS: Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?
SH: Guangzhou S.P.I Design Co., Ltd was founded at 2007 with its headquarters in Guangzhou. Now it has 10 branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Kunming, Changsha, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu and Nanjing, including 2 modules of ‘S.P.I real estate’ and ‘S.P.I culture and tourism’ with completion of more than 3000 excellent projects in over 100 cities. S.P.I has deep collaboration with China top 20 realty groups and provide superior schemes and resolutions for local governments, owning honors such as ‘National Landscape Architecture Design Qualification Class A’, ‘The Best Creative Brand Institution of China Architecture & Planning’ and ‘National Top 10 Landscape Architecture Enterprises’. S.P.I has won the first place in the competitiveness of Chinese Real Estate landscape design in Times House for 3 consecutive years, as well as other international ones of IFLA, Survey and Design Award, Kinpan Award, etc. It also won the first place of new media influence in ARCHINA industry for many times. As an expert of systematic landscape service, S.P.I pay attention to the business mission of ‘Innovation leads the poetic dwellings’, customizing systematic and integrative solutions in the fields of community environment, commercial, culture & tourism, theme towns, urban design and regional planning, which depends on new S.P.I design concept. The huge team of over 1000 will keep working for the ideal dwellings in the future, and have interdisciplinary cooperation, techniques, social and environmental responsibilities to be a world-class Landscape Architecture company with remarkable design, full service, poetic spaces and extremely explored innovative aesthetics.
FS: What is "design" for you?
SH: Design is one of the most important part of my life.
FS: What kinds of works do you like designing most?
SH: The practicality and aesthetics design is the best choice.
FS: What is your favorite material / platform / technology?
SH: In depends，I think. I do not have special materials and techniques. I think materials just a method of expressing emotions and create atmosphere. According to different emotions, I always use different materials to create my ideal landscape design. Turning to technology, rapid technology advanced have improved design efficiency and make impossible become possible. I will never forget that I relied on my hands to design when I just graduated. But now, various software can help us to design. Actually，I always maintain a curiosity for new technologies and realize the integration of traditional culture and modern technology, which has reached eternity.
FS: Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?
SH: Sustainable development, environmental-friendly, aesthetics
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?
SH: I always had many ideas and inspirations to express during the design process. When I think about design, I tend to be tireless and energetic, because I love my design as if I love life.
FS: What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?
SH: Exciting, of course! To be honest, I spend a lot of time in my work and I am always touched by them. I am excited for my efforts can be recognized and my design theory can put into practice. However, after excitement, I always critical myself and sum up my experience to strive for the next project.
FS: What makes a design successful?
SH: Studying, observation and thinking. Studying（reading or studying from life） is a very good method to improve self-competitiveness. It makes me continue to accumulate and keep creative in my design. At the same time, observation and thinking are also very important. I always observe good designs and thinking about the reasons for touching points of it. After that，I always summarizing, accumulating and absorbing from my observation and thinking. Finding touching points helps us understand the essence of design and help me make rapid progress.
FS: When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?
SH: Landscape is one of the crucial elements in urban sustainable development. It is the art and science of organizing land, spaces, and the elements on them to be used in an appropriate, healthy and pleasant way. What a landscape design does to people psychologically, or how it has the power to transform our society, is hard to measure but increasingly important. Good landscape design improves how people live; great landscape design improves how society operates. If we don’t practice a more sustainable form of landscape design, we risk harmful side effects to people and society that could have been avoided.
FS: From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?
SH: Sustainable development, environmental-friendly, aesthetics
FS: How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?
SH: It is difficult to predict the future，because world changes rapidly. However, I have maintained a curiosity about the world，trying to respond to traditions, facing the future, contributing to the Chinese landscape design industry.
FS: When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?
SH: The last December in the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China. The next exhibition is supposed to be held in December, we sincerely hope the coronavirus will be defeated at that time.
FS: Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?
SH: Nature and life.
FS: How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?
SH: To be honest, I don't have a fixed design style. I do not want to be constrained by the ‘style’. Actually, I have been trying and exploring the development of the Chinese landscape during the past decades. However, I can say responsibly that no matter how my design style changes, the root of my design comes from traditional Chinese culture. Chinese culture is extensive and profound. As a Chinese, I have an obligation and responsibility to inherit tradition. But I am not just copying Chinese traditional landscapes, instead of innovation based on the tradition of re-creation, facing the future. I hope that hundreds of years later when people look at my design, they will see not only the shadow of the ancient Chinese landscape but also the traces of the 21st century.
FS: Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?
SH: I live in China. China has lots of world heritage sites, including palaces, sacred sites, gardens, historic centers, cultural landscapes, and rural landscapes. They are heritage properties and landscapes that continue to change over time. Of course they will influence on my design, I always got inspiration from Chinese culture.
FS: Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?
SH: Being a young designer is a demanding yet rewarding work. It is way beyond making human being’s life more pretty and sustainable. We may work as the landscape designers for different reasons and goals with different philosophies. But one thing we have in common for sure is we all went/are going/will go through a fresh stage. Use it to learn, fail and grow with the precious humble curiosity and courage unique in the fresh stage.
FS: What is your "golden rule" in design?
SH: New Shanshui, the golden rule in my landscape design. That is, utilizes the natural spirit and cultural value rooted in the landscape, uses the emotional communication between people and nature as the medium, reshapes the aesthetics of urban life, innovates the way of current life through new technologies, new processes and new materials to achieve product updates, endow a high premium for the region, and construct a poetic space for the information flow of all life evolution.
FS: What skills are most important for a designer?
SH: Thinking! All designs are based on our thinking. Observation, thinking, learning from good designs can help us make rapid progress. Some people might believe that technology is the most important skill in design. However, all technical just help us for expressing ideas. Only the improvement of thought can achieve a touching design.
FS: Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?
SH: I always use paper or iPad to draw in my work. Technology can never inspire me like hand-drawing.
FS: Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?
SH: Admittedly, design takes me lots of time, so I can only compress sleepy and work until the early hours. Firstly, my secretary can arrange my time reasonably to ensure my work efficiency. Secondly, using my trivial leisure time to keep accumulating and creativity in my design. Finally, I have an excellent design team. We work together to create better designs. I appreciate that I have such a hardworking team. Without them, many of my ideas cannot be realized.
FS: How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?
SH: It depends on the clients’ expectation and marketing requirement. Generally speaking, 1-2 years at least.
FS: What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?
SH: It must be my design theory，named New Shanshui. It is a theoretical system about the development of Chinese landscape.
FS: Who are some of your clients?
SH: Vanke, Poly, Country Garden, , Evergrande , Wanda Group, CIFI,etc… Some government and other organizations are in our clients list either.
FS: What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?
SH: I believe landscape design is part of my life. It is difficult to give up，because I have spent a lot of time and energy on it.
FS: Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?
SH: Working with my team is the best choice. You know, my own strength is limited, only teamwork can create more excellent designs.
FS: How can people contact you?
SH: Please feel free to contact me via sunhu@gz-spi.com or 13503079158@163.com
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
SH: No，thanks
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A’ Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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