INTERVIEW
30 M I N UTE S
WITH MAR K SAI NT PÔL
Pro Landscaper interviews a man with a predisposition for all things landscaping, Director of Square One, Mark Saint Pôl. Having worked with some of the most influential professionals within the industry and with an array of qualifications, not to mention his aptitude for the integration of various outdoor sectors- Pro Landscaper certainly had many questions for the renowned Landscape Architect. The Towers at Merriman Square Biofiltration Basin
You have many qualifications under your belt… Have you always been interested in the landscaping industry & how did it come about that you began your studies in each of the fields, Landscape Architecture & Horticulture respectively? I have always been interested in plants, landscapes and cities and how people engage with them. It took me quite a while to figure out that there was a profession that covered all of that and more. Growing up in Brighton Beach on the KZN south coast, I spent a lot of time on the beach and in the surrounding coastal forests. When circumstances meant that we had to move away and access to those well-functioning natural open spaces was reduced, I became very aware that not all living environments are created equal. I sensed the major effect this had on the functioning of the ecological, social and built environment.
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Faced with an awareness that I had to improve my environment, I turned to the only tools I knew at the time - plants. My Mother is Dutch and both her parents had a genetic predisposition to growing plants in small spaces. Armed with that heritage and the benefits of a sub-tropical environment, I set about creating a garden. That worked out kind of well and I realised that I had to do more of the same in more places. At the time, studying horticulture was the clearest path to achieving that. Horticulture at Pietermaritzburg was a bit too focussed on farming for me and the Technikon course had more of an urban horticulture focus, was shorter and closer to the sea, so I opted for that. At that time, I believe that the Durban Municipality was the largest in the country and had incredibly well run nurseries and tissue culture labs supplying Durban’s extensive urban parks such as Mitchell Park and the Durban Botanic Garden, so that is where I did my in-service training. Pro Landscaper Africa | February 2018
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