SED Group has a new member now: SKUP International, Shanghai Office, which focus on environmental and urban planning services. LANDSCAPE.CN talked with Koichi Kobayashi, the Executive General Manager of SKUP International recently.

　　Koichi Kobayashi’s past employment has covered a diverse field of planning and landscape architecture: new town, mixed use development, education, and public service, private offices in architecture and landscape architecture and urban design.

　　“To me, urban planner, urban designer, landscape architect and landscape architecture educator, all these titles are by definition in the same profession caring for preservation and enhancement of the environment. Just like we have been utilizing a variety of names for a sustainable city, the names may include high environmental quality city, zero emission city, low carbon city and others, but in my view they are all striving toward a creation of a city which offers living with nature and having a high natural, cultural, historical and societal amenities, safety and convenience while being capable of sustenance.” Koichi Kobayashi told me during our talking.

　　He also told me that to follow the environmental design concept of “integrating science and aesthetics, showing concern to ecology and sustainable development”, SKUP recruits and maintains well rounded and experienced staff members who practice with a goal of integrating science and aesthetics, showing concern to ecology and sustainable development. And since they have offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Seattle, they will try to strengthen ties among the offices through more project collaboration, staff exchange and staff education and training. And SKUP will decide their focus basing on location of market for our profession.

　　Why did you choose to study in University of California, Berkeley after you graduated from Kyoto University, What was the difference of education systems of landscape architecture between USA and Japan?

　　It was not the difference of educational system that I went to University of California, but a necessity to learn the culture and people of my adopted country. It was not the difference in educational system that I decided to study there but difference is in the difference of the country of USA and Japan. Anyway, some of the basic qualities I would like young people to have and nurture is the ability to listen well to audiences including clients, colleagues, users etc., and to be a holistic person to be liked by people around. Any project could not be accomplished without good and thorough communication.

　　How would you like to divide your former career into different phases?

　　The strength of the art of my planning and design is anchored to long and deep immersion in the Japanese gardens of Kyoto, Japan during my high school and college days. My design work, be it large or small, is guided by simplicity, variation, depth, and sense of space as exhibited in small residential garden design as well as design for a large urban open space as in the Interstate Ninety: Seattle Landscape Project . The 300 acre I- 90 Master Landscape Design project, succeeded in installing green respite in much needed neighborhood, long bisected by previous highway, pioneered the concept of the environmental sustainability as project’s overall framework in design and use of emerging computer technology in preparing maintenance program. The project was given American President’s Design Excellence Award in 1997. Art of garden design is a core of our landscape architectural profession. This is one of the reasons I maintain a strong connection with this field. I have been trying to create a multi-disciplinary capability in planning, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering and project management in myself for a long time. I have been holding this vision of establishing linkage between human satisfaction of the environment and quantitative and qualitative aspect of the visual and green open space and making it a backbone of my work.

　　The professional design team of SKUP is consisted of people from different countries with different culture background, how does SKUP lead this team corporately working on each project with common company values?

　　KOICHI KOBAYASHI: We shall maintain a policy of understanding of different cultural values held by individual staff members and of practicing profession with respect of these varying values. I have been involved in a number of cross cultural projects in a variety of scale. Osaka Garden at Chicago’s Jackson Park along the lake shoreline restored as well as new stage for this 100 year old Japanese Garden supported by the City of Chicago and Osaka, Japan. This project’s success prompted a rebirth of the south end of the Jackson Park. Washington Village is the project in site planning as well as landscape design to develop a western style housing and recreational space in the City of Sanda, Japan. Project has received a number of award and citation from both sides of the Pacific in design and community planning. This project has been supported by the state of Washington, USA and Government of Hyogo, Japan. Through these experiences, I have learned that social value of planning and landscape architecture in USA and Japan have come to a present position with respective growth and maturity of democratic society.