As cooler days return, this October issue of Landscape Middle East celebrates design that balances purpose, passion, and place. Design is often at its most powerful when it slows us down, when a public space invites pause, a park restores a sense of balance, or a landscape reminds us that progress doesn’t have to mean excess. This month’s issue turns its focus to the people rethinking how we connect with our environments, and with each other.
Our highlight story features Rowan D’Arcy of ASPECT Studios, whose work between Dublin and Dubai explores how public spaces can foster belonging in climates where outdoor life is both a challenge and a joy. His philosophy: landscapes should make people feel, not just function.
Guylaine M. Raphael of DAR shares a more personal lens on leadership, showing how passion, perseverance, and purpose can guide teams across continents and climates. Her career proves that empathy and excellence are not opposites; they’re inseparable.
And finally, we pay tribute to Professor Kongjian Yu, whose “Sponge City” vision transformed the relationship between cities and water. His passing this year leaves a legacy that continues to influence designers who see resilience not as a trend, but as a moral imperative.
Enjoy the issue
Managing Partner: Ziad Maarouf Amine
Copy Editor: John Hampton Phillip Higgins
Administrative Assistance: Sarry Gan
Art Director: Ramon Andaya
Contributors: Abdullah Alawad, Guylaine Raphael, Kongjian Lu, Oskar Szlachetka, Rowan D’Arcy, Susanna Vissani, Yawar Salman
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IFLA Jellicoe award 2025 Günther Vogt
The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), which represents the worldwide profession of Landscape Architecture, proudly announced that Günther Vogt is the winner of the 2025 IFLA Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture.
The Jellicoe Award is the preeminent award for landscape architects and the highest honour IFLA can bestow. The jury, composed of the chair, a member from each of the five IFLA regions worldwide and a guest member, agreed that “Günther Vogt is one of the most influential landscape architects and his lifetime achievements, both in practice and theory, have had a profound and lasting impact on the global advancement of landscape architecture.”
Informed by a thoughtful interdisciplinary and contextual approach, his distinctive body of work underlines the cultural significance of the profession. In addition to his practical and design work, his academic and teaching activities as well as his efforts to bridge academia and practice have also had a vast impact on landscape architecture.
In 2000, Günther Vogt founded VOGT Landscape Architects, emerging from his partnership with Dieter Kienast in Zurich, and now operating with studios in Zurich, Berlin, London and Paris. Landmark projects include the design of the open spaces of the Tate
Modern in London, the Allianz Arena in Munich and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt as well as the Masoala Rain Forest Hall in Zurich. High-profile collaborations with architects, artists, sociologists or environmental specialists not only result in remarkable and generous projects that spark discussion about our relationship to nature but also have the potential to change the general perception of the profession.
From 2005 to 2023, Vogt was a professor of landscape architecture at the Institute for Landscape and Urban Studies (LUS) within the Department of Architecture (D-ARCH) at ETH Zurich, the Federal Institute of Technology.
With his teaching he has been influential for a new generation of landscape architects. In 2012, he was also lecturing as a Visiting Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Furthermore, he held more than 200 talks mainly in an academic context.
With the founding of Case Studio Vogt in 2010, an innovative platform between academia and practice was created. For years, the Case Studio has not only hosted debates and various teaching formats but has also carried out numerous projects and exhibitions.
With Vogt’s retirement at ETH Zurich in 2022, the Case Studio was reorganized, but the basic idea as a place of exchange and development was intensified.
His passion for looking at new ways to read, interpret, and describe landscapes is represented in all different facets of his work and resulted in a series of publications and exhibitions adding significant theoretical contributions to the profession. The publications include Miniature and Panorama (2012), Landscape as a Cabinet of Curiosities. In Search of a Position (2015) or Mutation and MorphosisLandscape as Aggregate (2020).
In 2012, Vogt became the first landscape architect to be awarded the prestigious Prix Meret Oppenheim from the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. He also received the Schulthess Gartenpreis in 2010 and an Honorary doctorate from the University of Liechtenstein in 2018.
As excellent and passionate landscape architect, dedicated educator and an intellectual leaderwithin the field of landscape architecture Günther Vogt is the perfect recipient of the 2025 Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture and the jury felt that he richly deserves the highest honour that the International Federation of Landscape Architects can bestow upon a landscape architect.
The IFLA Geoffrey Jellicoe Award is the highest honour that the International Federation ofLandscape Architects can bestow upon a landscape architect. The Award recognizes a livinglandscape architect whose lifetime achievements and contributions have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of society and the environment and on the promotion of the profession of landscape architecture. The award is bestowed annually on an academic, public or private practitioner whose work and achievements are respected internationally.
Beyond Green: Rowan D’Arcy’s Journey Through Nature, Family, and Public Space
An interview with ASPECT Studios-Rowan D’Arcy
From Dublin’s green spaces to the regions sikkas, dry meadows and arid public realms, Rowan D’Arcy’s journey is grounded in a deep belief: that landscape architecture is not just about landscapes, it’s about people and nature. As the Regional Studio Director for MENA at ASPECT Studios, Rowan leads a team reshaping some of the Middle East’s most ambitious landscapes. And yet, when you ask him what truly inspires his work, the answer is simple community, nature, and family.
“I’m a dad,” he says with a smile. “Weekends are about nature, water, the sea, and time with my kids. It’s where I recharge, it reminds me why we do what we do.”
That sense of balance, between the human and natural world, is central to ASPECT Studios’ philosophy. “We are a true design collaborative of landscape architects, and urbanists connected by our purpose,” Rowan explains, “to create projects which challenge and delight, whilst enhancing the lives of people and natural systems in an enduring way.”
Place Matters
ASPECT Studios is a global practice founded in Australia, with its roots in Melbourne and a presence that now extends to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Its Dubai studio, established five years ago, reflects the company’s belief in
place-based design: embedding teams within the regions they serve, not flying in to impose generic ideas.
“Our Dubai design team is a true blend,” Rowan says. “About 50% are from the region, and the other half bring global perspectives. That diversity is critical to creating work that’s both authentic and innovative.”
Authenticity, for Rowan, means listening to local culture, to heritage, to nature. A key example is the studio’s work on Diriyah Gate, a heritage-led development in Riyadh, which was led by ASPECT’s Global Design Director Kirsten Bauer our of the Melbourne studio. Rather than impose a European-style plaza on Najdi architecture, the design team studied the traditional spatial grain of Riyadh’s adobe cities.
“There’s no such thing as a big open square in traditional Najdi urbanism,” he explains. “So Kirsten proposed to break down the space into sub-plazas, reflecting the historic rhythm. It wasn’t just a stylistic reference; it reshaped how people would move, gather, and experience the place. By doing so we created the scheme we dubbed; The Najdi Civic Space, because of its unique structure within the strict heritage confines of the master plan.”
Nature, Community, and Climate Reality
ASPECT’s work often begins by unpacking what “nature” means in a region where water scarcity, heat, and rapid urbanisation collide. “When people hear ‘nature,’ they think green and lush,” Rowan notes. “But in the Gulf, nature is arid, wild, and beautiful in a different way. Our job is to make space for that.”
To him, community and nature are inseparable. “One of our other Global Design Directors Sacha Coles once said to me; Take yourself back to childhood. Where was your happiest memory? Most people say outside. I was struck by this universal truth,” he says. “Our task is to
give people spaces-shaded, walkable, wild or designedwhere they can reconnect.”
One of ASPECT’s guiding principles is regenerative design, a concept that moves beyond sustainability to improve ecological and social systems more actively. “We aim to leave a site better than we found it, or even better than we could if we applied the industry standard sustainability principles” Rowan says. “We use tools like thermal comfort modelling, biodiversity indexing, and bespoke system of internal guidelines, not as box-ticking, but to push outcomes that matter to the users, whether they are human, flora or fauna.”
Najdi Culture Park, KSA
Rowan (left) with ASPECT Studios Global Design Director Sacha Coles (right) and Co-CEO Valter Viera (middle)
Thermal comfort is a particular challenge in the region.
“It’s not always effective to design to negate the peak heat conditions, say midday in mid-summer and expect to change the underlying usage patterns,” he says. “It’s more effective to extend the shoulder seasons, and focus then planning of improved microclimates where people can gather in the cooler times of day.” This thinking was applied during the GHADAN21 program in Abu Dhabi, where nuanced thermal comfort strategies were proposed using combined approaches to wind, water, shade, thermal mass and venting to replace the generic approach to providing shade structures.
Changing the Regional Norm
Rowan is frank about the constraints of the Middle East’s landscape industry. “Too often, the same design approaches are repeated across projects,” he says. “And materiality and detailing can feel copy-pasted. But we’re attempting to challenge that gently.”
Rather than chase novelty, Rowan’s team pursues design rigour. “Good design isn’t just about invention,” he notes. “It’s about synthesis, taking the best of global thinking and applying it meaningfully respectfully.”
One strategy is to involve clients deeply in the design journey. “We open our process, share research, and iterate together. That transparency builds trust and leads to stronger outcomes.”
And increasingly, developers are listening. “Nature sells,” he says. “Look at Majid Al Futtaim’s ‘Forest Living at Ghaf Woods’. The market is demanding more nature and active lifestyles.”
He points to cities like Abu Dhabi as leaders in public realm development. “They’ve had strong public realm guidelines for years, and it starting to show in recent years. There are now many exemplar projects showing how good
Arid Forest Living, Dubai
landscape design can challenge urban heat and increase biodiversity in measurable ways.”
ASPECT’s Global Footprint, Local Focus
ASPECT Studios now counts more than 170 staff across studios in Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai, London, and Ho Chi Minh City, among others. But what unites them is not a signature style-it’s a shared purpose.
“There’s no house aesthetic in ASPECT Studios” Rowan says. “we all rally around a common mission: to challenge a business-as-usual approach and anticipate emerging culture, allowing our diverse projects to stand out.”
This principle flows from ASPECT’s Australian roots, where engagement with First Nations culture has reshaped how designers listen to land and community. “Connection to Country taught us that designers aren’t the only voices,” Rowan reflects. “That ethos of humility carries through in every studio.”
More Than Just a Job
It’s easy to forget that behind the renderings and reports, there are people parents, surfers, dreamers trying to make cities more livable. For Rowan, that personal connection is everything.
“Design is about people. I’m fortunate to work in a field that combines creativity, nature, and positive impact into something that evolves over time. It allows the opportunity for people to immerse in natural environments even when
in the depths of a city. Watching people connecting with a place we have designed in this way-that’s the best reward.”
His advice to young designers? Stay curious. Keep learning. Embrace technology but don’t lose the human spark.
“There’s so much opportunity now. Landscape architecture is becoming data-rich, tech-enabled, and globally respected. But at its heart, it’s still about crafting spaces where people can connect with nature.”
Final Thought
In an age of AI, concrete, and climate extremes, ASPECT Studios and Rowan D’Arcy are quietly advocating for something enduring: nature, not in a superficial sense, but in places where a child’s first memory might bloom, where communities gather under arid trees, and where cities rediscover the delight of being outside, together.
Residential Developement, Abu Dhabi
DO IT WITH PASSION OR NOT AT ALL
Guylaine M. Raphael on Leadership, Landscape, and Living with Purpose
An interview with Landscape Middle East Magazine
For Guylaine M. Raphael, Visionary Leader of Sustainable Landscapes, passion is not just a motivator-it’s her guiding principle. “Do it with passion or not at all,” she says with conviction, a mantra that has carried her through more than twenty years in the design profession and over a decade with DAR.
That passion has taken her from modest residential beginnings to leading some of the Middle East’s most ambitious landscapes. “When I joined DAR, it was a challenge-suddenly I was working on megaprojects with big clients,” she recalls. “But challenges excite me. With creativity, knowledge, and passion, the journey was smooth, and today I lead large teams and guide projects across the Gulf and Africa.”
A Career Built on Determination
Guylaine’s professional journey began in interior architecture before she transitioned to landscape in 2007. The move was driven by her love of the outdoors and her conviction that spaces between buildings are just as vital as the buildings themselves. At DAR, she quickly established herself as a leader, shaping projects that span cities, campuses, and parks.
Her steady rise reflects not just technical skill, but perseverance. “This profession is demanding. You need confidence, resilience, and an ability to bring diverse voices together,” she says. “Every project involves a balance of cultures, climates, and client expectations. Passion is what keeps me motivated.”
The Power of Passion in Mega Projects
Much of Guylaine’s recent focus has been on Saudi Arabia, where the scale and speed of development are redefining expectations. For her, passion means consistency and confidence when managing complexity. “These projects bring together so many voices. You have to be up to speed, you have to inspire, and you have to steer the client,” she explains.
She describes her role not as following instructions, but guiding vision. “Clients often know they want more, but not exactly what. It’s our job to lead them, while respecting culture, climate, and community. That’s the true value of a landscape architect.”
One project close to her heart is Al Bidda Park in Doha, Qatar, where she worked from its inception in 2015 through to its legacy at the Doha Expo 2023. The project earned recognition in the Guinness World Records for the largest green roof on a multifunctional building. “It was years of dedication,” she says. “That recognition with my name on it is more than an award, it’s proof of the passion behind every detail.” The Expo Doha 2023 project within Al Bidda Park also earned first prize in the Landscape Middle East Awards 2024, in the Landscape Art and Landmark category.
Her long association with Qatar even earned her the affectionate nickname “the Qatar Lady” within DAR’s offices, a nod to her deep involvement in the country’s landmark projects.
Balancing Creativity and Delivery
Guylaine believes true creativity is more than ideas on paper. “It’s not just about beautiful renderings,” she explains. “It’s about translating vision into reality, ensuring the project works for people every day. Design must be both inspiring and functional.”
That philosophy requires her to work seamlessly across disciplines, ensuring every detail is considered. “We don’t just think in two dimensions. We imagine how people will walk through a space, how it feels, how it performs. Creativity has to meet practicality.”
Technology plays a growing role in this process, from 3D modelling to immersive animations. Yet for Guylaine, the heart of design remains storytelling. “It’s not just the software—it’s how you tell the story to the client. You need to make them believe in the vision and see themselves in it.”
Sustainability with Heart
Sustainability is another area where Guylaine’s passion shines. A LEED and SITES-accredited professional, she insists on integrating sustainable practices into every project. “We’re ruining the planet, and as landscape architects we have a duty to make it better,” she says firmly.
Whether working on mega-developments or neighborhood parks, she looks for opportunities to minimize impact and maximize resilience-through material choices, water-sensitive design, and long-term maintenance strategies. “At the very least, each project should meet the minimum sustainable standards. But for me, it’s about embedding responsibility into every step of the process,” she adds.
Her perspective is pragmatic but urgent: “Sustainability isn’t optional anymore. Climate change and environmental pressures mean we have to design differently, or we risk losing the very landscapes we’re trying to create.”
Community at the Core
Guylaine is equally passionate about the social dimension of design. She sees landscape architecture as a discipline rooted in people. “It’s not just about designing beautiful places it’s about making them work for communities,” she says.
Her vision for public spaces is to promote a sense of belonging. “When people feel a park is their home, they will protect it. They will respect it. That’s our role: to design places that encourage care, connection, and community identity.”
This people-centered approach also reflects a broader shift in the profession. “Fifteen years ago, landscape was often seen as secondary. Today, clients want landscape architects to lead projects, to shape the experience from the ground up. That recognition is vital for the future of our cities.”
Beyond DAR – Passion in Every Scale
In addition to her role at DAR, Guylaine runs Atelier GMR, her independent freelance practice. Founded in 2005, it began with interiors and gradually moved into small-scale landscape projects. Far from competing with her corporate role, she sees it as complementary.
“Working at both macro and micro scales sharpens your perspective,” she explains. “The big projects need vision, but the small projects remind you of the details that make spaces truly work. A garden, a courtyard, a path these details shape people’s daily lives.”
This dual focus reinforces her belief that passion has no scale. Whether designing a city district or
a residential garden, her goal remains the same: to create meaningful and lasting environments.
A Life Fueled by Passion
Outside the office, Guylaine’s life is just as full. Based in Beirut, she balances leadership at DAR with family life as the mother of three sons-two at university and one still a teenager. “I sometimes feel like a mentor at home and at work,” she jokes, noting that many of her young colleagues are the same age as her eldest children.
Sport and movement keep her energized. Pilates is a regular routine, and she prefers doing it outdoors whenever possible. “Being active outside clears my mind and keeps me connected to the landscapes I love to design,” she says. Even on walks through older neighborhoods, she finds herself reimagining what could be improved. “Ideas are always pouring in,” she admits with a smile.
Advice for the Next Generation
Her message to young professionals is simple but profound: passion is everything. “If you are passionate about what you’re doing, you will succeed,” she says. “Skills can be learned, but passion is what keeps you going through challenges. That’s what will carry you forward in this profession.”
For Guylaine Raphael, passion is both a mantra and a method. It has guided her career, shaped world-class projects, and inspired the teams she leads. Whether at DAR, through Atelier GMR, or in her daily life, she continues to embody her belief: Do it with passion-or not at all.
Landscape as an Organising System: Rethinking the City Through Landscape Urbanism
By: Abdullah Alawad Aspiring Landscape Architect
As cities expand and their social, economic, and ecological networks become increasingly complex, the limits of traditional urban planning have grown more apparent. In response, a new intellectual and design movement has emerged: Landscape Urbanism. This school of thought reimagines the very foundation of city-making, positioning the landscape not architecture as the primary organising framework for contemporary urban environments.
The theory took shape in the 1990s and was formalised through The Landscape Urbanism Reader, edited by Charles Waldheim, whose work has become the key reference for understanding the movement. Waldheim and his contemporaries propose a profound shift: cities should no longer be read as collections of buildings, but as dynamic systems shaped by flows of water, energy, ecology, and human movement.
Challenging the Architectural Paradigm
Waldheim begins by challenging the traditional planning model that elevates architecture as the defining element of the city. In an age marked by climate change, environmental stress, and social inequality, he argues, architecture alone cannot address the multifaceted realities of urban life. Instead, he points to the systems that already govern how cities function, transportation networks, hydrological patterns, ecological corridors, and green infrastructure, as the true forces shaping urban growth. These, he insists, belong to the domain of landscape.
Landscape as a Dynamic Planning Tool
Far from being a decorative afterthought or a passive backdrop, landscape in this new context becomes the active foundation of urban design. Waldheim envisions
it as a flexible, adaptive framework, capable of absorbing social change, environmental fluctuation, and infrastructural evolution. Here, “landscape” is not the romantic ideal of untouched nature, but an open and productive field that integrates water management, energy distribution, public space, and community life.
From Object to Process
What distinguishes Landscape Urbanism from other schools such as New Urbanism or conventional architectural designis its focus on process over form. It favours systems that evolve over time rather than static, monumental structures. Its geometry is not fixed in concrete and glass but expressed through the fluid interaction of land, water, vegetation, and people. This approach rejects the notion of the “complete
plan,” embracing instead incremental, adaptive design that grows and transforms alongside the city itself.
Responding to Contemporary Challenges
Landscape Urbanism positions itself as an answer to some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century: rising global temperatures, the inadequacy of classical grid planning in managing urban sprawl, the inequitable distribution of green and social infrastructure, and the outdated divide between city and nature. In this view, the tools of landscape architecture stormwater management, brownfield remediation, ecological restoration are no longer supplementary. They are essential strategies for building resilient, just, and sustainable cities.
Beyond Nature and Culture
Perhaps the most radical aspect of Landscape Urbanism lies in its rejection of the binary between nature and culture. The city is no longer seen as separate from the forest, nor concrete as the opposite of soil. Instead, the landscape is understood as a
continuous, cultural terrain, one that both shapes and reflects human experience. It is not what remains after construction; it is the framework through which urban life unfolds.
Planning as Evolution
At its core, Landscape Urbanism redefines planning itself not as a fixed product, but as an evolving process. The city becomes an ecological organism, its development guided by interaction, adaptation, and time. Design, in this sense, is not about finality but about cultivating conditions for change.
A Vision for the Future City
The Landscape Urbanism Reader is more than a collection of essays it is an intellectual manifesto that calls for a reordering of the relationship between people, nature, and the built environment. Through Waldheim’s lens, architecture no longer dictates the structure of the city; landscape does. It is this shift from object to system, from permanence to process- that defines the future of urbanism.
Tamara Houses, Dammam: Plenerr’s Landscape of Balance
In Dammam, where desert meets sea, Plenerr has crafted a landscape that redefines luxury through restraint. At Tamara Houses, water, shade, and culture converge to create a private sanctuary that celebrates sustainability, heritage, and contemporary design.
By Plenerr
The Gulf region has long been a stage for architectural ambition, where the desert’s extremes challenge designers to create beauty from scarcity. Against this backdrop, Plenerr, a design studio dedicated to crafting refined outdoor environments, was commissioned to shape the landscape identity for Tamara Houses in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
The result is a landscape that balances opposites from luxury and restraint, water and desert, privacy and community. Through its thoughtful composition, the project demonstrates how contemporary landscape architecture in arid regions can achieve elegance, cultural depth, and environmental intelligence in equal measure.
Context and Vision
Conceived as a private coastal residential development, Tamara Houses was envisioned as more than a collection of villas. The client sought an environment where families could connect with nature without compromising comfort a place where courtyards, shaded lounges, play areas, and reflective pools extend the experience of the home outdoors.
Located in Dammam, where summer temperatures soar and water is precious, the project demanded solutions that could endure the climate while offering sanctuary. Plenerr approached it with a guiding question: How can landscape architecture express luxury without excess in a setting where every element shade, water, and wind has significance?
Water as Poetry and Structure
At the heart of the design is water, not as ornament, but as structure and atmosphere. A sequence of linear pools and reflective basins runs through the site, forming microclimates that temper the heat and create a sense of calm.
Sunken Shaded Lounge: A sunken shaded lounge in front of the pool offers a cool retreat, blending water, planting, and timber structures to create a social focal point.
Infinity Pool with Water Feature: The infinity pool stretches towards the beach, its integrated water feature enhancing both sound and movement while drawing the eye to the horizon.
Water becomes both movement and metaphor. Flowing channels lead residents through the development, while shallow pools mirror the palm canopies and dappled light above. The interplay between fluid and solid, shimmer and shadow, softens the rectilinear architecture and transforms the landscape into a sensory refuge.
Every element is engineered for longevity. Recirculating systems and advanced filtration technology ensure minimal water loss, aligning the project with Saudi Arabia’s growing commitment to resource-efficient design.
Planting as Performance
Plenerr’s planting strategy reflects the studio’s belief that ecology and aesthetics are inseparable. In Dammam’s climate, sustainability begins with species selection. The team devised a layered approach that provides shade, texture, and resilience throughout the year.
Towering palms and carefully positioned shade trees form a structural canopy, creating outdoor “rooms” that moderate temperature and define spatial hierarchy. Beneath them, clusters of frangipani and desert-adapted shrubs introduce fragrance, texture, and bursts of seasonal colour. At ground level, hardy grasses, succulents, and groundcovers establish visual softness with minimal irrigation.
The contrast between lush tropical plantings and droughttolerant species reflects Saudi Arabia’s own dual identity between abundance and restraint, heritage and modernity. Spaces for Social Life
For Plenerr, landscape is not only an environmental buffer but a stage for daily life. The Tamara Houses design encourages interaction while preserving privacy. Each outdoor area offers a distinct social rhythm from morning solitude to evening gatherings.
Shaded lounges and pergolas create sanctuaries for rest and conversation. An ocean-facing dining terrace with sculptural stone furniture provides a setting for entertaining. Play areas, built from natural timber and shaded canopies,
Common Villa Gardens: Shared gardens between private villas balance privacy with community, framed by layered planting and shaded pathways.
I LUXURY VILLAS
blend seamlessly into the landscape, while circular firepits reinterpret Gulf hospitality in a contemporary form. These are spaces where stories and rituals unfold under the night sky. Transitions between private, semi-private, and communal zones are choreographed with care, ensuring residents can move fluidly between retreat and connection.
Material Dialogue with Architecture
Plenerr’s design philosophy extends beyond planting into material expression. At Tamara Houses, the landscape and architecture share a common language one of proportion, texture, and restraint.
Limestone, timber, and textured concrete were chosen for their ability to bridge modern minimalism and natural tactility. Pathways, generous yet understated, guide residents with a quiet sense of ceremony. Custom outdoor furniture, designed to echo the geometry of the buildings, blurs the boundary between architectural fixture and landscape element. The result is a unified composition an environment where structure and nature coexist seamlessly.
Designing for Climate Resilience
Working in Dammam required more than aesthetic consideration; it demanded environmental precision. Every design decision carries climatic intent. Pergolas and trees were oriented for optimal shade, reducing radiant heat. Water features were positioned to support passive cooling through evaporation, subtly lowering perceived temperatures.
Improved soil substrates and efficient drip irrigation systems enhance plant health while minimising water use. The coastal site’s saline conditions presented another challenge one resolved through the selection of salt-tolerant species that thrive where others fail.
By weaving these scientific strategies into a visually compelling framework, Plenerr proves that luxury landscapes in the Gulf can also be sustainable and pragmatic.
Cultural Sensitivity and Contemporary Luxury
Every Saudi landscape project carries cultural resonance. For Tamara Houses, that meant balancing privacy, family life, and hospitality while reflecting a modern, international aesthetic.
Beach Landscape: The beach landscape integrates coastal planting and natural textures, softening the transition between architecture and shoreline.
Infinity Pool Facing the Sea: An expansive infinity pool area opens directly to sea views, merging modern luxury with the natural coastal setting.
Beachfront Cabanas: Elegant cabanas line the beachfront, offering shaded retreats where residents can enjoy privacy against a backdrop of palms and sea breezes.
Cabanas and shaded seating areas recall the intimacy of traditional courtyard homes, but are reinterpreted with modern lines and materials. The fire circle, a gathering place rooted in Bedouin tradition, becomes a sculptural centrepiece, merging heritage with contemporary design.
This layering of meaning ensures that the landscape feels authentically Saudi yet globally relevant, avoiding mimicry in favour of reinterpretation.
Plenerr’s Growing Role in the Region
The Tamara Houses project marks another milestone in Plenerr’s evolution as a thought leader in Middle Eastern landscape design. With a portfolio spanning the Gulf and beyond, the studio has built its reputation on three pillars: ecological responsiveness, artistic ambition, and cultural fluency.
Each project combines sculptural hardscape and lush planting with an understanding of local climate and lifestyle. The result is work that endures environmentally, socially, and aesthetically. For Plenerr, landscape architecture is not about spectacle, but substance: spaces that continue to inspire long after completion.
A Landscape of Balance
In Dammam, where desert meets sea, Plenerr has delivered a landscape defined by equilibrium. The Tamara Houses show how design excellence can turn private residences into living environments places where water, shade, and greenery are not luxuries but lifelines.
As the Middle East continues to reimagine its relationship with land, water, and climate, Tamara Houses stands as a quiet but powerful statement: progress is not measured by abundance, but by restraint, intelligence, and cultural depth.
For residents, the result is a sanctuary that feels timeless yet modern. For the profession, it is a reminder that landscape architecture, when rooted in context and guided by vision, has the power to shape not just spaces, but the identity of a region.
Natural Playground: A children’s playground of natural timber structures integrates seamlessly into the planting, combining play with ecological sensitivity.
Outdoor BBQ Terrace: The BBQ area features a sculptural stone counter as its centerpiece, set within a shaded terrace designed for gatherings.
Grand Arrival Court: The arrival drop-off is anchored by water features and a striking specimen tree, establishing identity and sense of place from the first impression.
KONGJIAN YU: THE ART OF SURVIVAL AND THE LEGACY OF A VISIONARY
The world of landscape architecture is mourning the loss of one of its most transformative voices, Professor Kongjian Yu, who passed away on September 23, 2025, in a tragic plane crash in Brazil. His death leaves an immeasurable void, not only in the profession he redefined, but in the global conversation about how humanity must live with nature, not against it.
Born in 1963 in Dongyu Village, Zhejiang Province, China, Yu’s humble rural beginnings shaped the philosophy that would define his life’s work. As the “peasant’s son” who rose to become one of the most decorated landscape architects in the world, he never forgot the lessons of the land, the resilience of water, the wisdom
of agriculture, and the interdependence between people and their environment. From these roots, a global movement grew.
After earning his doctorate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design under the guidance of Richard Forman and Carl Steinitz, Yu returned to China in 1997 to found the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University. A year later, he established Turenscape, which would become one of the world’s largest and most innovative landscape design firms. Across hundreds of projects and more than two decades of work, he developed and tested a new language for landscape— one built on ecological function, resilience, and cultural depth.
Yu’s most famous contribution, the “Sponge City” concept, transformed urban water management worldwide. Where others saw engineering challenges, Yu saw an opportunity to restore ecological systems. His approach, utilizing wetlands, greenways, and permeable surfaces to capture and filter rainwater, provided cities with a means to adapt to flooding, heat, and pollution. It redefined landscape architecture as the art of survival and repositioned nature-based design as essential infrastructure in the fight against climate change.
In recent years, Yu expanded this vision to a global scale with his “Sponge Planet” initiative, arguing that a stable climate depends not only on reducing carbon emissions but on healing the planet’s disrupted water cycles. His call was clear: “We must save ourselves by saving nature.”
But Kongjian Yu was more than an innovator; he was a philosopher, a teacher, and an advocate. His “Big Feet Revolution” challenged the superficial pursuit of manicured beauty and called instead for landscapes that are productive, functional, and inclusive, serving all people, not just the privileged few. He urged designers to abandon “ornamental aesthetics” in favor of what he called “deep forms,” rooted in local culture and ecological truth.
Through his teaching, writing, and the work of Turenscape, Yu’s influence spanned continents from the wetlands of Sanya and the river corridors of Jinhua, to Bangkok’s Benjakitti Forest Park and Kazan’s revitalized waterfront. His projects, often award-winning, served as living laboratories for resilience, transforming degraded land into thriving ecosystems and places of community renewal.
I LANDSCAPE LEGACY
His achievements earned him some of the highest honors in the profession: the IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award (2020), the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize (2023), and the RAIC International Prize (2025). Yet those who knew him best remember not the accolades, but his generosity. He had time for students, passion for debate, and a rare ability to inspire hope in the face of planetary crisis.
Yu often reminded audiences that landscape architecture was not merely about design it was a moral responsibility. In his words, “By wiser planning and designing of the urban landscape as life-saving and climate-adaptive ecological infrastructure and public space, we can save lives immediately and, in the long term, save the planet.”
His passing has united the global landscape community in grief and gratitude. Tributes have poured in from every corner of the world from the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) to national associations, colleagues, and former students. Together, they remember a man whose intellect was matched only by his humility, and whose ideas will endure far beyond his lifetime.
Kongjian Yu leaves behind a world forever changed by his vision. His landscapes breathe, absorb, and heal; they are testaments to his belief that beauty and survival are one and the same. His legacy will continue to shape how we design, build, and imagine our cities for generations to come.
Landscape Middle East joins the international landscape architecture community in honoring Professor Kongjian Yu a pioneer, a teacher, and a friend to the Earth. His wisdom will live on in every park, wetland, and restored river that embodies his dream of a resilient and harmonious planet.
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Yawar Salman CEO of Sirkap
From Pakistan’s ancient quarries to contemporary landscapes across the GCC, Sirkap is carving a new narrative for natural stone. We spoke with the founder to uncover how the company is blending craftsmanship, design, and sustainability to reshape the regional market.
Tell us a bit about your background. How did your journey into design and manufacturing begin?
I come from an academic background rooted in both management and development economics. I completed my MA in Management from Durham University and my BA in Economics with Development Studies from Sussex, both in the UK. My education gave me a global outlook but my passion for natural materials and craftsmanship led me to explore stone as a medium for creative and architectural expression.
You’ve been operating in the GCC for a few years now. How has the experience been?
It’s been a whirlwind, and both rewarding and demanding. The pace in the GCC is incredibly fast, and expectations are high.
That said, it’s also a place where quality and design innovation are deeply valued. We’ve seen a strong and growing response to our collection, especially for cladding, flooring, and bespoke stone furniture. Clients here appreciate craftsmanship, and they’re not afraid to push creative boundaries.
When did Sirkap officially enter the regional market?
We set up our regional presence about two years ago, but the foundation was built over a longer period, developing relationships, understanding local preferences, and fine-tuning our offerings for this specific environment.
What is the core of Sirkap’s business?
We’re essentially a vertically integrated natural stone company. We mine and manufacture in Pakistan, but we also import raw stone from other regions. What makes us unique is our ability to add design-forward value—be it through custom finishes, large-format cladding panels, or sculptural stone pieces. These are often specified by leading architects and interior designers across the GCC.
Your product range is quite specialised. What sets it apart?
When we launched, one of the key gaps we identified was the lack of large-format natural stone for cladding. We now offer panels up to 120x120 cm, complete with mechanical fixing systems. Beyond that, we’ve collaborated with designers to create custom stone furniture from raw-block kitchen islands that work indoors and outdoors, to sculptural tables and seating. Each piece tells a story of scale, texture, and locality. Our crazy pavers and flagstones also offer an earthy alternative to the more common porcelain options, adding richness to landscape and exterior design.
Where do you see room for growth in the GCC’s landscaping industry?
There’s immense potential. Globally, the conversation is shifting toward sustainability, material authenticity, and energy efficiency, especially in outdoor design. The GCC has made strides, but there’s still a heavy reliance on synthetic or low emission value materials like porcelain. Natural stone, when used thoughtfully and treated with the right sealants, offers not only beauty but longevity and a lower environmental footprint. Educating the market on this is part of our mission.
How are your products typically used in landscape settings?
We provide everything from cladding for outdoor walls to handcut flagstones and natural stone pavers. But perhaps the most exciting application is our block-sculpted kitchen islands and garden features pieces that serve as both utility and sculpture. Each installation becomes a focal point, grounded in material honesty.
Is aligning with international standards important in your work?
Yes of course, adhering to global benchmarks ensures quality, safety, and sustainability. It also makes it easier for architects and designers to specify our materials across borders. We’re strong believers in design accountability.
What’s the biggest challenge of operating in the region right now?
Access to skilled labour. Specifically, it’s been increasingly difficult to obtain work visas for our stone masons from Pakistan, craftspeople who are essential to the precision and artistry of what we do. We’re actively working on long-term solutions, including local training initiatives.
Is Sirkap’s reach extending beyond the region?
Yes, very proudly so. We recently completed a project in London for a major UAE-based developer and have active clients in Australia and the UK. Our aesthetic, rooted in natural materiality but delivered with modern sensibility, resonates across markets.
What’s next for Sirkap? Any developments on the horizon?
We’re preparing to establish a manufacturing unit in either Fujairah or Ras Al Khaimah. This will allow us to process regional stones locally, reduce carbon footprints, and scale our offering. We’re also expanding our line of custom outdoor furniture and launching new textures tailored for arid climates. It’s an exciting time for us, we’re just getting started.
The Digital Drop!
How Landscape Irrigation Software is Revolutionising Water Efficiency and Design
By: Tarek Alsheeti
Outdoor landscaping, the vital green layer of our cities and homes, often presents a hidden problem: water waste. In many regions, a significant portion of that water is wasted due to outdated irrigation practices. For decades, irrigation scheduling was an imprecise art relying on fixed timers, guesswork, or the simple act of turning a dial until the water started running down the street. The result? Unhealthy, overwatered plants, soaring utility bills, and a massive strain on local water resources.
Thankfully, this era of inefficiency is rapidly coming to an end. A powerful shift is underway, driven by sophisticated software that is transforming irrigation from guesswork into an exact science. The industry relies on two distinct but complementary digital toolsets:
Irrigation Design Software: Used by engineers to create the perfect blueprint, this software focuses on the pre-installation phase, performing complex hydraulic calculations to ensure the system is built with optimum pipe sizing, pressure, and uniform water distribution.
Central Control Systems (Smart Controllers): These are the “brains” that manage the existing system, focusing on the operational phase. They use real-time data from weather stations and soil moisture sensors to dynamically adjust watering schedules, determining when and how much to irrigate.
To truly understand how design software transforms landscape irrigation, one must look at the tools that set the industry standard. Land F/X is one of the most widely adopted and revered design platforms globally, particularly because of its seamless integration with AutoCAD and its commitment to hydraulic accuracy. It perfectly illustrates how a digital tool can enforce best practices.
Land F/X is more than a drafting overlay; it is a calculation and efficiency engine built specifically for irrigation professionals:
Intelligent Component Placement: Unlike generic CAD tools, Land F/X uses its own system, Irrigation F/X, which contains manufacturer-specific data for thousands of heads, emitters, and valves. When a designer places a component, the software recognises its hydraulic properties.
Automated Pipe Sizing: This is the flagship feature for efficiency. The software automatically performs all the necessary calculations to size the mainline sub-mains and lateral piping for every zone, ensuring the velocity of water is kept within optimal limits all emission devices are supplied with the ideal pressure. This single function eliminates the common design error of undersized or oversized pipes
I IRRIGATION
The Error Check Tool: This proprietary tool runs a comprehensive diagnostic on the entire system. It instantly identifies design flaws that lead to waste, such as: Sprinklers not connected to a valve. Overlapping pipe intersections. Missing labels or callouts. Un-sized lateral pipes.
The shift to digital precision is fundamentally reshaping how we manage outdoor water use. As we have explored, landscape irrigation software is not a single product, but a powerful ecosystem of tools that address every phase of a system’s life cycle.
The journey begins with Irrigation Design Software like Land F/X, which eliminates the most significant source of long-term waste: hydraulic inefficiency. By automatically calculating optimal pipe sizes, managing pressure loss, and enforcing precise component placement, these platforms ensure that a new irrigation system is structurally and mathematically sound from the moment the blueprint is finalised. The accuracy of this design phase lies in the essential groundwork for high water-use efficiency.
This groundwork is then brought to life by Central Control Systems (which we will explore in detail next month). Where design software defines how a system is built, central control systems dictate when and how much water an established system receives. By leveraging real-time data from weather stations or/and soil sensors, these systems replace static, human-set timers with dynamic, weather-smart scheduling, dramatically reducing overwatering and cutting water consumption by a significant percentage.
Ultimately, the digital drop, which is the precise, measured application of water enabled by this software, is the new standard for environmental stewardship and financial prudence. Embracing these technologies is the most critical step the industry can take toward building resilient, waterwise landscapes for the future.
In our next article, we will take a deep dive into the operational phase: Central Control Systems. We will compare the performance of sensor-based versus weatherbased systems, explore the technology behind real-time leak detection, and analyse how these digital brains manage large-scale property portfolios to achieve unprecedented water conservation.
ALDGATE: A RIBBON OF PLAY AND POSSIBILITY IN THE CITY OF LONDON
By: Carve
At the heart of the City of London, Aldgate could easily have become another corporate corridor, a place people rush through on their daily commute or occupy briefly at lunchtime, eyes fixed on their phones. Instead, through the imaginative collaboration between Carve and Townshend Landscape Architects, the area has been redefined as a lively public realm completed in 2024, a dynamic intersection of movement, play, and community life where moments of rest and activity coexist seamlessly.
Blurring the Boundaries of Use
At the core of Aldgate’s transformation is a sculptural ribbon, a bold, twisting form rendered in vivid red and orange, that winds through the streetscape, continuously shifting in function and identity. Its triangular steel profile folds and morphs into a series of playful installations: a bench for resting, a bridge for climbing, a table tennis zone, fitness equipment, or even an open-air stage for performances and community events.
A long communal table invites shared lunches and birthday gatherings, while open spaces encourage spontaneous encounters. The design intentionally blurs distinctions; is it a playground, a meeting point, or an outdoor workspace? It is all of these and more: a fluid, multifunctional landscape that embraces ambiguity and celebrates the social vitality of urban life.
A Burst of Colour in the Urban Fabric
The ribbon’s vibrant palette gives Aldgate a distinctive visual identity, enlivening the surrounding streetscape and softening the hard edges of the urban environment. Its luminous hues contrast dramatically with the City’s architecture
while complementing the greenery that punctuates the site. Beyond aesthetics, the design transforms an overlooked space into a destination, inviting curiosity, interaction, and joy.
Precision in Craft and Construction
Realising the ribbon’s fluid geometry was as much an engineering feat as a design statement. Shaping the twists in the steel structure posed complex challenges, which were met with remarkable precision by the project’s construction team. Each connection was meticulously crafted to appear seamless from every angle, preserving the ribbon’s visual continuity.
The integration of timber seating demanded similar care; every joint and transition was refined to maintain both structural integrity and design elegance. Beneath the surface, the team navigated a dense web of existing infrastructure, including historic Victorian tunnels, pipes, and cables, requiring thoughtful coordination and innovation at every step.
A City Space for Everyone
For Carve, designing public spaces means dissolving the traditional boundaries between play and work, between the corporate and the communal. “We believe play shouldn’t end with childhood, it should be embedded at every stage of life,” the team notes.
Aldgate now stands as a testament to that philosophy: a place that shifts the City’s public-space narrative from being the domain of “corporate folks” to one that welcomes everyone, whether you’re a CEO or a child. It’s an invitation to pause, play, and participate, a reminder that even in the heart of London’s financial core, joy and connection still have a place.
Project Details:
Design:
2020
Completion: November 2024 in collaboration with: Townshend Landscape Architects
Location: New Drum St, Aldgate E1 7BQ, UK
Area: ca. 1000 m2
Carve team: Elger Blitz, Mark van der Eng, Lucas Beukers, Dimitra Tsagalidou
Manufacturer: Ceeplay
Photo credits: Carve
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GOLDEN HOUR Communal areas resembling natural meadows
By Jimena Martignoni
Las Liebres (The Hares) is a medium-sized gated community located north of Buenos Aires City. Although such developments are common in areas outside the city, this one features a particularly unique layout for its communal spaces. The ‘central park,’ as it is called, stretches 600 meters long and 17 meters wide, unfolding as a pedestrian green strip composed solely of ornamental grasses.
The bucolic image of this design immediately evokes a visual representation of the local Pampas landscape. Walking along this long stretch, framed by nearly twometer-high clusters of plants, the visitor feels immersed in a different atmosphere where local nature takes over effortlessly.
The proposal for a linear central park was a design decision made early on by the architects and planners. Later, landscape designer Clara Billoch a local specialist in flower and grass production, and garden design chose grasses as the most suitable option for this space.
She also opted not to add any large trees, as they would cast dense shadows over the rear yards of the lots. With lot sizes ranging from 650 to 1,000 m², most rear yards face the linear park. Therefore, to ensure maximum sunlight, she incorporated only large beds of grasses.
Irrigation and soil conditions were other important reasons for using grasses and some herbaceous perennials. Originally, the area was a low-lying piece of land that was
filled, so the general soil conditions were not ideal. As for the irrigation plan, the project was designed to be very low-maintenance. In this regard, few plants compare to ornamental grasses: with their high drought tolerance and ability to thrive in a wide range of conditions, along with nearly nonstop performance and visual impact, these tough and eye-catching plants proved to be perfect for the site.
For this project, Billoch was also responsible for the plants’ production. In this respect, she says: “I got about 3,000 mother plants and divided each one into three plants. After a year, I had produced the entire plant supply we needed for the park.”
For the planting layout, she relied on subtle curves and free-flowing forms, which she marked in situ on both sides of the central strip. When discussing the functional and formal aspects of the park’s design, she also emphasizes the idea of intimacy. “We wanted to create a strong sense of intimacy for both people passing by and walking along the central area, as well as for the homes and private yards”, she explains. And further adds, “At the same time, the only way to achieve a visual impact that aligns with the overall scale of the site was by grouping the plants into large clusters spanning eight or ten meters”.
These groups feature a wide variety of species, with Pennisetum purpureum, Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), Panicum antidotale (blue panic grass), Pennisetum villosum (feathertop grass), Miscanthus gracillimus (maiden grass), and Vetiveria zizanoides (vetiver) being the most prominent. Additionally, Salvia leucantha (Mexican bush sage), an herbaceous plant, adds bluish and purple hues to the brown and golden tones that define the iconic color palette of the grasses.
Here and there, isolated groups of existing trees, mostly native species, dot the space, providing a formal counterpoint to the large masses of plants. This natural setting creates ideal conditions for the preservation of wildlife, such as local hares and birds. In fact, a bird locally known as ‘tero’ (southern lapwing) has become a gracious regular visitor to the park.
Concerning the architectural plan, the clubhouse is located on the northwest side of the linear park. With simple, modern lines, the architecture contrasts with the gently sloping greenscape, overlooking both the park and the swimming pool, situated just below. On the opposite side of the building, a small access courtyard offers a welcoming space that precedes the park. With a symmetrical layout, this courtyard is planted with mediumsized trees and borders of yellow wild iris (Dietes bicolor).
As part of the master plan, an additional plot of land accommodates a set of three-story dorms where an intimate garden, framed by boxwood and small trees, provides a pleasant spot for temporary residents. Two shallow pools add a refreshing visual element to this patio while also serving as water reservoirs for fire protection.
Las Liebres is a combination of a thoughtful master plan and a landscape design aimed at preserving and protecting
the local landscape. With a wide variety of plants that respond to the existing conditions and environment, the project preserves both the local wildlife and the cultural character of the region.
Landscape Designer: Clara Billoch
Master Plan and architecture: Estudio Semaco
(Architects Robirosa-Iglesias Molli)
Area : 42 hectares. Area of the central park: 0,200 m2 (600 x 17m)
Photography: Clara Billoch-Jimena Martignoni
Location: Buenos Aires province, Argentina
I book review
books of interest
Gardens for the Desert
The book Gardens for the Desert tells the story of how bödeker, a German landscape architecture firm, grew from a single seed planted by its founder, Richard Bödeker, into a strong and thriving tree. In the 1970s, Richard Bödeker brought his expertise in arid landscapes to Saudi Arabia, where his innovative designs laid the foundation for transformative projects like the Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter and many others. These projects became deeply intertwined with the city’s development, reflecting a commitment to sustainable urban greenery and a profound understanding of local needs.
Highlighting the many people who supported and shaped this journey, the book also includes perspectives from some of the firm’s partners. They share unique insights into the collaborative efforts that define bödeker’s success. Today, the firm is led by a partnership of six dedicated individuals who continue to develop its core design philosophy, creating new ideas and concepts for the future. This collaborative spirit has fostered significant growth, with the firm now employing 140 team members and continuing to expand.
For anyone interested in the history of landscape architecture in Saudi Arabia and Riyadh’s urban evolution, Gardens for the Desert provides a captivating perspective on the development of iconic projects and the expertise behind them.
The book is not freely available. But if you are interested, you can sign up for our newsletter, where we will be sharing the book as an audiobook in installments.
(bodeker.com/ab-sign-in)
Publisher: German|Ulmer; Englisch|bödeker
Texts: Stefan Leppert
Pages: 289
FREE Audiobook Ger/Eng (bödeker Newsletter)
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