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EDITOR’S NOTE
This month’s cover story spotlights an extravagant five-level farmhouse in New Delhi that reflects the distinctive style of its owner, Rishabh Kapoor, Director of the architectural and interiors firm Design Deconstruct. This amazing house boasts unconventional design elements that leave a lasting impression. See page 26
We feature six nature-based community parks in Abu Dhabi that have been honoured with international awards, recognised just a few months after their opening. Designed by world-renowned Danish landscape architects SLA, the parks have turned barren city blocks of sand into sustainable, active, and biodiverse community parks.
We hear how Studio Arth redesigned a mini urban oasis, The Plaza on Bricknal, to create a connection between people and the environment, a space that invites city dwellers to align with nature and themselves. Studio Arth explains how their initial design concepts played with lush, layered planting and minimalistic greenery to contrast how light and shadows intertwine among the plants to create captivating patterns and deepen a connection with nature. Read more on page 34
Steven Velegrinis, Design Director for Gensler Middle East’s Cities and Urban Design practice, shares insights into ecological urbanism and highlights the advantages of building cities in harmony with nature, a consideration for future city design in the GCC.
We interview Ehab Al Badawi, a young entrepreneur who is setting new standards for quality and service in landscape installation; we take a look at a project inspired by the unique natural landscape of the Sella Valley and take you to a natural and organic playground that evokes the sense of a mountain nest or a jungle treehouse.
We hope you enjoy this month’s Landscape Middle East magazine.
Enjoy the issue!
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Managing Partner: Ziad Maarouf Amine
Copy Editor: John Hampton Philip Higgins
Administrative Assistance: Sarry Gan
Art Director: Ramon Andaya
Contributors: Cecilie Overgaard Rasmussen, Ehab Al Badawi, Jimena Martignoni, Archita Sikdar, Amy Peng, Dhyana Priyadarshini, Catherine Chan
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Nature-based Community Parks in Khalifa City are honoured with international design awards.
One on one with Mr. Ehab Ata Abd Al Hamid Al Badawi Managing Director of Shayea Landscape
Orla do Guaíba
Introducing the extravagant five-level farmhouse in Chattarpur farms, New Delhi
Red Dunes Playtopia
Designing for Resilience
Ecological Urbanism is the Future for Cities in the GCC
Steven Velegrinis, Design Director for Gensler Middle East’s Cities and Urban Design practice, shares insights into ecological urbanism and highlights the advantages of building cities in harmony with nature.
becoming abundantly clear that we need a different development model to curtail the existing and continued damage being caused by humans and combat climate change.
Given the scale of the population expansion, it is imperative that the growth of cities is appropriately managed, and this is where ecological urbanism can have a significant impact.
For the longest time, we’ve thought about cities as being highly functioning machines, but the reality is that they’re much more like a metabolism or an ecology. When you regard them as such, you must think about flows and systems and how they adapt.
Evolving new models of development
According to the United Nations, the number of people living in cities is expected to increase to an estimated 66% of the world population by 2050. By this time, the global population level would be more than 9 billion, with most growth occurring in less economically developed countries. Compare this to pre-covid 2018, which saw 55% of the world’s population residing in urban areas. Overall, 4.2 billion people lived in urban settlements compared to 3.4 billion in rural areas. In 1950, only onethird (30%) of people worldwide lived in urban settlements.
This surge in urban population levels will put further pressure on already stressed resources and infrastructures, and larger cities will bear the brunt of this strain. As more and more people move to urban areas in search of better economic opportunities, services, and a higher standard of living, our urban spaces must be designed more ecologically.
It cannot be understated how much cities impact the natural world. As the planet becomes more urbanised, it is
Initially conceived of as a concept in the 2010 Book Ecological Urbanism, published by the Harvard Graduate School of Design, it is a notion that could facilitate a paradigm shift in how we design and build our cities. Its central tenant is that cities should be designed and created within – and around – the limitations and potential of existing natural resources.
Simply put, this means that it should be the natural landscape that shapes the growth and evolution of the city, with communities operating in harmony with nature. As an example, green areas will not only exist to beautify spaces. Still, they will also serve as genuine engineering artefacts that serve a purpose – improving air quality or acting to trap, retain, and treat wastewater.
Ecological urbanism aims to create ‘artificial ecosystem’ cities with the same interdependent efficiencies and life-preserving redundancies as natural ecosystems. Furthermore, a properly designed ecological city can turn the current linear pattern of energy-in-oneend and waste-out-the-other into a loop, where generated waste is repurposed and reused in various beneficial ways.
Ecological thinking gives us a model that succeeds in multiple ways. It allows us to think of ways to address climate change and how cities can work better and become more humancentric. We are an essential part of our ecology, and we need to live in symbiosis with the places in which we live. That’s why it’s critical to have a model that considers how we want to live and how our cities work.
Many of our current models for cities have their roots in how the villages came to be developed hundreds if not thousands of years ago; these models are fit for purpose only to a particular scale. Despite these limitations, we’ve continued to adapt current systems from these outdated models rather than evolve new ones, with damaging results.
How we use and think about water and wastewater is a perfect example of this. Before cities, wastewater was a resource – it was only wastewater if you wasted it. But we now connect our homes, apartments, offices, and buildings to pipes and build kilometres of pipelines to locations that treat wastewater. We then build pipelines that come back to the same places and provide the treated water back to us for things like irrigation.
Building such networks is inefficient, expensive, and comes with an enormous cost to our environment.
One solution is to treat wastewater in the location in which we create it. That solves several problems, one of which is the overall infrastructure cost. Several years ago, I was working on a master plan for a project in Qatar, where they didn’t have access to sewage or treated sewage effluent water pipelines. A conventional solution for this project involved building a three-kilometre pipeline from the site to a treatment plant and piping that water back in through another separate threekilometre pipeline.
Instead, we proposed a way of treating the wastewater in the open spaces near the site using reed beds native to the local landscape. This solution required very low energy consumption and was considered an environmentally conscious way of treating wastewater. It also provided multiple benefits, including a 200-million-riyal reduction in cost and an endless supply of irrigation water that was effectively free. Furthermore, the reed beds provided kilometres of green spaces that help to cool and condition the environment.
This project exemplifies the advantages of integrating urban infrastructure with nature rather than keeping them separate. By harmonising these elements, numerous benefits can be realised, highlighting the significance of ecological thinking in city planning.
If we think about the flows of an ecosystem and how we can optimise them, then it becomes a symbiotic type of solution. Given how much we’ve separated everything in our cities and urban environments, we must begin thinking like this. The GCC presents a massive opportunity for an ecological urbanism movement. The giga projects in Saudi Arabia are huge in size and scale and are being developed with nature in mind. The Red Sea Project has taken great pains to minimise its impact on the natural landscape, thanks to initiatives like ecologically designed destinations and being 100% powered by renewable energy.
NEOM is another interesting example, with the giga project’s website describing The Line as a ‘civilisational revolution that puts humans first, providing an unprecedented urban living experience while preserving the surrounding nature’. It adds that the project aims to ‘redefine the concept of urban development and what cities of the future should look like’.
Ecological considerations are clearly at the forefront of this massive project, with renewable energy, smart connectivity, and intelligent design all being brought to bear on the project to revolutionise how people look at cities and urban planning.
In the UAE, we have recently seen an increase in the number of residential projects that have put sustainability at their core. Of course, Dubai Sustainable City, and developments like the Terra Pavilion at Expo City, are other examples of how we can build ecologically.
Thinking of cities as ecologies
We can rectify the issues we’ve created once we consider cities and infrastructure as part of ecology. It’s surprisingly easy to retrofit cities along an ecological urbanism model. I have seen some innovative housing projects in the UAE that use nature-based systems to treat wastewater. However, there’s still plenty more we can do in existing and new cities to resolve the inefficiencies we’re building.
Natural systems can be engineered and hybridised to combine a few different things to deal with the waste that we create. Certain types of bacteria in a soil profile allow a natural system to cope with pollutants and waste, performing better than most mechanised systems, requiring far less energy, chemicals, and mechanical maintenance, which reduces costs over time.
We have an exciting opportunity in the GCC thanks to the many development agendas and plans happening across governments. There are very few places in the world where new cities are being built from scratch and where you’re not locked into using older approaches that don’t prioritise the health of an urban landscape, its residents, and the climate.
We must embrace this and utilise the opportunities available in this region to show that ecological urbanism can succeed, even in environments as harsh and challenging as the GCC.
While our regional landscapes are perceived to need more natural resources, that is not the case. Arid Ecologies are equally crucial to the world’s biodiversity, and we have the advantage of strong, decisive leadership that recognises the need to resolve the challenges we’re facing.
Most importantly, there is the willingness to invest in finding solutions to these challenges and a desire to change how we build and think about cities.
As an urban planner, I know the key is to deal with the primary issues and develop innovative ideas and methodologies to solve today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. As an active participant in developing the master plan for Dubai Expo 2020, I witnessed the remarkable fusion of groundbreaking concepts in ecological urbanism supported by novel tools and databases. This unprecedented integration has enabled us to explore intricate metrics, such as carbon emissions, in ways previously unimagined.
To unlock the full potential of ecological urbanism, we must embrace emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. These innovative solutions offer the means to address the pressing challenges brought about by the rapid growth of our global population and the relentless expansion of our cities. By harnessing the power of these technologies, we can pave the way for a more sustainable and ecologically conscious future.
About Gensler
Gensler is a global architecture, design and planning firm with 53 locations and over 7,000 professionals networked across Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and the Americas. Founded in 1965, the firm serves more than 4,500 active clients in virtually every industry. Gensler designers strive to make the places people live, work and play more inspiring, resilient and impactful.
Dubai Culture and Art Jameel announced a selected proposal for the inaugural Jaddaf Playscape Commission:
I Dreamt of a city everyone calls home by design collective theories of imagination.
Art Jameel, an organisation that supports artists and creative communities, announces UAE-based design collective Theories of Imagination (TOFI) –artist-architect Noor Alwan and artist-designer Abdulla Buhijji – as the recipients of the inaugural Jaddaf Playscape, a commission by Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, part of the Dubai Public Art initiative.
Dubai Public Art is a new multi-year initiative led by Dubai Culture that enables the creation and installation of public art by UAE-based artists. Art Jameel is a curatorial partner, working alongside Art Dubai, Tashkeel, Alserkal and Akaas Visual Arts.
An esteemed international jury has selected TOFI’s proposal through an Open Call announced in February 2023, which received nearly 100 applications from artists and designers across the UAE. The inaugural Jaddaf Playscape Commission jury included world-renowned local and international art professionals, architects and curators: Cecilia Alemani, Director and Chief Curator of the Highline NYC and Curator of the 59th Venice Biennale of Art 2022; Wael Al Awar, Founder and Principal Architect of waiwai, representing the UAE at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2021 and winning the
Golden Lion; Amal Khalaf, Projects Curator at the Serpentine Gallery, London, and Director of Cubbit Gallery, London; and Nora Razian, Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions at Art Jameel.
Alongside selecting Theories of Imagination (TOFI) as the winner, the jury also opted to award Jury Special Mentions to three shortlisted proposals in recognition of their originality and bold vision. Congratulations go to Carla Baz, designer; Evan Collisson, designer and multidisciplinary artist; and Jumairy and Lina Younes, artist-designer duo.
Set to open to the public in Autumn 2023 in the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park next to Jameel Arts Centre, the Theories of Imagination (TOFI) largescale interactive sculptural structure titled I Dreamt of a City Everyone Calls Home is an adventure playground that encourages play and imagination for
all ages. Taking design cues from the wider Jaddaf area, it seamlessly combines vernacular architectural patterns, fauna and flora with new imaginative shapes and formats. By paying homage to the history of Jaddaf as a crossroad of cultures, the playground becomes a celebration of the diverse communities that have shaped Dubai, drawing inspiration from the area’s historical significance as a boatyard and its role in enabling trade and cross-cultural exchange. I Dreamt of a City Everyone Calls Home is designed as a whimsical space for collective dreaming.
Commenting on their selection, Theories of Imagination (TOFI) said: “We are very excited to be working on executing our vision for the playscape specifically in Al Jaddaf. Witnessing the area’s growth over the past few years, we feel blessed to be a part of the city by bringing its people together. Our concept strives to create a space that fosters inclusivity and creativity, a space that’s inviting, enticing, and engaging for all ages from all walks of life. We love the notion of parents using the same play elements with their kids rather than watching from afar, teenagers who can embrace the cool in play, children with different abilities who can explore play with other senses, adults who can join in on the fun in less active ways – there’s something for everyone there. We strongly believe in the impact that urban play can leave on cities, and our need for these playful informal spaces; a playground at the heart of Jaddaf and next to Jameel Art Centre was a dream brief for us. The concept is dear to our hearts, and we cannot wait to see it come together, leaving the impact we think it will.”
The Jaddaf Playscape Commission creates a new artist-designed space in Dubai for creative enjoyment, imagination, and play for all ages, opening in Autumn 2023 for an initially intended duration of four years. The Commission is a significant opportunity for UAE-based artists, designers, architects, and collectives to propose and create a monumental, interactive and playful public artwork for the Jaddaf Waterfront Sculpture Park, the UAE’s first art-themed park, created and managed through a collaboration between Dubai Holding and Art Jameel.
The Commission, devised and curated by Art Jameel, is part of Dubai Culture’s new Dubai Public Art initiative, a multi-year project to enable public art installations by UAE-based artists and foster creativity and engagement within the community. Art Jameel’s role as a curatorial partner in the new initiative focuses on commissioning a series of works for Dubai Creek, informed by deep, site- and community-specific research.
Riyadh opens 20 parks with combined area of 181,225m2
Riyadh has recently revealed plans to inaugurate 20 new parks in Saudi Arabia.
These parks are strategically located across 18 residential districts, covering a total area of 181,225 square metres. The opening of these green spaces is expected to enhance the quality of life for residents and contribute to the beautification and development of the region.
The parks are included in the neighbourhoods of:
King Faisal
Janadriyah
Dhahrat Laban
Al-Mansoura
Dirab
Al Narjis
Ash Shuhada
Al Yasmin
Al Yarmouk
Al Munsiyah
Al Khaleej
Al Qadisiyah
Cordoba
Al-Rimal
Al Rabie
Al Mughrizat
Al Uraija
Al Gharbiyah
Al Aziziyah
The parks’ total area of green spaces reached 50,000m2, including over 7,000 trees and shrubs.
Moreover, they are equipped with pedestrian paths spanning over 62,000 linear metres.
The parks also comprise 56 recreational areas and six playgrounds, accompanied by parking spaces for approximately 1,000 vehicles. Additionally, they include more than 750 decorative lampposts.
Rebirth of the Dancing Forest
INSPIRED BY THE UNIQUE NATURAL LANDSCAPE OF THE SELLA VALLEY
In 2022, Rocco Yim was invited to design an outdoor installation for Arte Sella Architettura, inspired by the unique natural landscape of the Sella Valley. RDA’s Rebirth of the Dancing Forest (Rinascita della Foresta Danzante), created in collaboration with Milan Polytechnic, is a threedimensional matrix built using fallen branches recovered after a destructive storm in Italy.
Installed in the garden of Villa Strobele—an area dedicated to architectural creations at the open-air museum of Arte Sella—Rebirth of the Dancing Forest was opened to the public on 16 September 2022, following the ‘Building with Nature’ conference that discussed the employment of eco-sustainable and biocompatible materials in construction.
Located in the Borgo Valsugana area of Trentino, Italy, Arte Sella has been combining nature and contemporary art for over three decades since its launch in 1986. Furthering their objective of “nurturing an ongoing dialogue between creativity and the natural world”, RDA’s installation memorialises the significant damage
caused in the Dolomites by Storm Vaia, which destroyed about eight million cubic meters of wood from fallen trees across the region’s forests. The work reminds people of our environment’s fragility and a declaration of hope for recovery after the natural disaster.
The salvaged branches are inserted in the ground to create a walk-through grid and linked at the top to evoke the resilience of nature, where treetops lean against each other for mutual support and protection against external forces. The installation comes alive during the day with shifting shadows of the wooden matrix and people moving in and out of the space— creating a projected choreography on the ground. A representation of the power of togetherness, Rebirth of the Dancing Forest calls upon our collective strength to overcome adversity.
Architect: Rocco Yim [Rocco Design Architects Associates LTD]
Photography: Giacomo Bianchi
Engineering and coordination: Professor Marco Imperadori [Politecnico di Milano]
Manufacturing and Engineering: Marco Clozza and Claudio Clozza [D3Wood]
Communication: Rosa Zambelli [Arte Sella]
Nature-based Community Parks in Khalifa City are honoured with international design awards.
Six nature-based community parks in Khalifa City have received international recognition just a few months after their opening. Designed by world-renowned Danish landscape architects SLA, the parks have turned barren city blocks of sand into sustainable, active, and biodiverse community parks.
By SLA Landscape ArchitectEarlier this year, Abu Dhabi witnessed the emergence of six new nature-based parks in Khalifa City as part of the ongoing revitalisation efforts. The city-block-sized parks, created solely using native trees and plants, have turned empty sand sites into new sustainable, active, and social places for all. Despite being inaugurated in January 2023, the parks have already gained international attention. Their innovative nature-based design has earned them the prestigious Monocle Design Award 2023 in the category of Best Urban Park. The parks are designed by renowned Danish landscape architects SLA for the client Abu Dhabi
Department of Municipalities and Transport and show that no magic tricks are needed to conjure sustainable greenery in a desert. Instead, SLA has used native flora to design new places for active, social, and sustainable life – for children, adults, and wildlife alike.
“The parks represent a new way of creating livable and social neighbourhoods in Abu Dhabi. By focusing on the local nature and getting a deep understanding of the specific context, we have created six distinctive and highly inclusive parks that celebrate the public life, social culture, and history of Abu Dhabi. Khalifa City has a classic grid plan
with walled villas, rowhouses, and the unique sikka pedestrian passageways in-between. These sikkas cleverly contribute to the public realm’s climate adaptation by providing shade and cooling for the residents. We are fascinated by these traditions and have integrated and renovated the sikkapassageways as part of the projects, enhancing the neighbourhoods’ identity and climate resilience,” explains Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Partner in SLA. “The city’s steadfast commitment
to creating sustainable and vibrant environments has been pivotal in realising our shared vision, and we truly applaud their dedication to bringing these innovative parks to life.”
Enhancing biodiversity and life quality
Building upon years of ecological research in Abu Dhabi’s plants and biodiversity, SLA has designed the six parks to contain more than 6.700 trees and bushes, comprised of 40 different native plant species. All are specifically chosen to minimise irrigation, strengthen biodiversity, and maximise natural cooling, ensuring the well-being of the parks’ many visitors. SLA’s biodiversity study identifies 40 plant species, 55 bird species, 56 insect species, three mammal species, and four reptile species likely to inhabit or utilise the new parks.
Slotted within the neighbourhood’s existing network of sikkas, the parks are squarely meant to serve the community: where children previously had to pile into a car to go to a playground, the residents are now surrounded by green spaces with football pitches, badminton, basketball, and padel courts.
“Khalifa City’s colour palette, shapes, and scales have a monotonous quality, inspiring our aim to introduce new colours and design expressions that evoke a sense of local identity and place. As a first step, we replaced the generic plot numbers with names inspired by our site visits. For example, ‘Ranim Garden’ is named after the lush gardens filled with bird songs surrounding the plot. Now, after introducing the native plantings, there are
even more birds. This is truly a park that changed the soundscape,” says Rasmus Astrup, Design Principal and Partner in SLA.
Overall, the design shows how to combine native nature, innovative urban design, and local communities to create good, social, and sustainable places brimming with life – all life.
The Khalifa City Community Parks mark the latest collaboration between SLA and the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport, following previous nature-based park projects, including Al Fay Park – the Middle East’s first urban biodiversity park and recipient of the prestigious 2021 WAF World Landscape of the Year Award.
I PARKS
Facts
The Khalifa City Community Parks are designed by the Danish nature-based design studio SLA in collaboration with Parsons. The client is the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport. The six parks are a combined 51,600 sqm, containing more than 6,700 native trees and bushes and numerous sports, play, and social gatherings activities. All six parks are designed to have their own distinct identities and characteristics devised from the local community and context. The parks’ names are Ranim Garden, Mashtal Plaza, Afnan Garden, Himma Park, Sadim Park, and Tilal Park.
In April 2023, Khalifa City Community Parks was awarded the prestigious Monocle Design Award in the Best Urban Park category.
Key data
Project names: Ranim Garden, Mashtal Plaza, Afnan Garden, Himma Park, Sadim Park, and Tilal Park
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Landscape Architect: SLA
Client: Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport
Total Size: 51.600 sqm
Completion: January 2023
Collaborators: Parsons (architect of record), Nulty+ (lighting), and Endpoint (signage and wayfinding)
Please tag SLA on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn using @slaarchitects
Please give us a brief description of you & your educational background.
I completed my Civil Engineering master’s degree at the Kharkov Academy in Ukraine, and since then I had the opportunity to remain associated with the landscape industry for more than 23 years.
Please highlight your experience in the GCC region in the past years.
I commenced my career as a site engineer, which allowed me to develop my project management skills and gain the necessary experience to advance in my chosen profession. I quickly progressed to a Project Engineering role overseeing multiple project sites. In 2014 I accepted a position as Operations Manager for a prestigious landscaping firm, a position I held until deciding to establish my own company.
When did your company first set up business in the Region?
My business partner and I established Shayea Landscape in 2022, an Abu Dubai-based company with a branch office in Dubai. We self-funded the start-up business to provide specialised landscaping services,
aiming for steady growth. We provided services to ensure the company developed a sound reputation in the landscape industry.
What are your company’s main activities & services? (Please elaborate extensively). Shayea Landscape is a full-service landscape supply and installation business that offers additional specialist services for aqua parks, swimming pools, complex irrigation systems, professional tree planting, water features, and maintenance.
Landscape service suppliers must provide a broad range of hard and soft landscape services to support each project requirement. Our extensive experience in the industry has provided us with the industry knowledge to ensure our clients are satisfied with our ability to meet their needs.
How has your business expanded since its inception? Our objective was to start small with steady growth, but this is a difficult objective to maintain in the UAE construction market, especially when you have a personal reputation for managing major work sites. Our company very quickly secured several major projects that we have successfully
managed these past two years. I am pleased to announce that our first major project will be completed very soon, and I look forward to sharing more details of this specialist aqua park project very soon.
There are many stages to the completion of each project, with multiple deadlines during the installation process, and I’m pleased that we have been able to meet every deadline to date. We are committed to ensuring every project is completed according to the work schedule with the highest quality standards – demonstrating this to our clients has already provided repeat business for us.
What are your main challenges for business operations in the current Middle East market?
There are always new players in the landscape industry; our company is only two years old, so I guess we are a new player as well, but unfortunately, there is much competition today that offers very low prices but without the same level of quality that we expect. The price must be reasonable, but we will maintain our high-quality standards.
Because landscaping is a finishing trade, we are often one of the last trades on site, and if the project is running behind schedule, there is always added pressure for us. It’s a challenge for us always to remain flexible to the client’s needs – we do everything possible and have even demonstrated our success in achieving the impossible. It’s a challenge that we meet with a “can do” attitude, and I think this is what our clients like the most about working with us.
Growing a business today is not just about winning the work; there is much opportunity in the market today, so learning to say ‘no thanks’ is challenging. We have declined several major projects already this year simply because these projects did not meet our schedule. Project planning and execution is the key to success; our clients recognise this as one of our strengths.
What changes need to be adopted in the GCC landscaping industry to become on par with the rest of the world?
The GCC region is vast, making it inappropriate for me to provide a sweeping commentary on its entirety. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that promoting sustainability within the region is crucial. To achieve this, we must focus on developing and implementing sustainable landscapes by reducing waste, cultivating native plants, and creating gardens that can withstand the extreme heat prevalent in most of the GCC.
By embracing ecological and sustainable initiatives, we can fulfil the desire for more parks and aesthetically pleasing spaces. These initiatives not only enhance the region’s natural beauty but also contribute to a greener, healthier environment.
What major projects have you, or your company, been involved with in the past years?
We are currently working on several significant projects in the UAE, but over the years, it has been an honour to have worked on several UAE landmark projects, including the Sheik Sayed Mosque; Cleveland Clinic; the Dubai Hills Mall; the Burj Al Arab; and the Old Town Burj Khalifa. I look at these projects today with a sense of pride that I had the opportunity to contribute to developing these projects over the years.
Please outline any future plans for your company, including new project development.
At Shayea Landscape, we prefer steady and measured growth over hasty expansion. While we acknowledge the significance of growth, our primary focus is on nurturing a reputation built on unparalleled quality and exceptional service. We want our clients to have firsthand experiences that align with their expectations.
Our core principle revolves around making commitments and consistently delivering remarkable
results. By upholding this ethos, the size of our company will naturally expand as a reflection of our strength and dedication to excellence. For now and in the future, we are committed to being a company that our clients trust and rely on, establishing lasting relationships founded on trust and satisfaction.
What special memories and incidents would you like to share with Landscape Middle East Magazine readers?
Reflecting on my career journey, I attribute my success to the invaluable guidance of numerous managers and mentors who steadfastly supported my effort. While my formal education in engineering laid a foundation, I truly grasped the art of landscaping through the wisdom imparted by these guiding figures. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have played a part in my growth through these words.
I offer advice for aspiring dream builders venturing to forge their paths: always continue to evolve your skill set. Education is a vital cornerstone, but the key to personal success lies in continually acquiring new skills that align with our professional pursuits and enrich our lives.
Pursuing knowledge should be a lifelong commitment – an unwavering dedication to honing our abilities and staying attuned to the evolving landscape of our chosen fields. Embrace the belief that patience is a virtue, for mastery and success seldom materialise overnight.
What is your forecast for future opportunities related to the landscape & irrigation business in the coming years, globally and in the Middle East region?
Looking ahead to the future of the landscaping industry, I anticipate a surge in transformative technologies with innovations to streamline workflow, optimise planning, and elevate documentation management to new heights. Automation from marketing to project execution should enhance our efficiency with tools to revolutionise landscape design, client communication, visualisation, and more. The following ten years will be an exciting time
Creative landscapes that allow you to a dreamy world!
TRANSFORMS TO A DREAM SPACE
SERVICES:
• Landscape Design
• Soft Landscaping
• Hardscaping
• Lighting
• Water Feature
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• Maintenance
Landscaping is a great way to improve the value of our Earth. It transforms our outdoors into a dream place. Shayea landscape is a wonderful landscaping service in UAE. We provide dedicated services with experienced professionals.
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Orla do Guaíba
The recovery of a beloved waterfront in Porto Alegre
By Jimena MartignoniPorto Alegre is the largest city and capital of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. With a population of 1.5 million in the city and almost 4.3 million in the metropolitan area, it is one of many Brazilian port cities. Although it is not on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, its location at the confluence of five rivers and the northern end of Lagoa dos Patos, the largest and most significant barrier lagoon in South America, makes it a city with an essential relationship with water. The Guaraní, the region’s original inhabitants, called the confluence of the five rivers Guaíba, which
means “meeting of the waters.” Today, the local people indistinctly refer to this space as the Guaíba River or Guaíba Lake.
Given this geographical context, the city has historically been affected by floods, of which the most devastating was in the early 1940s. After this event, a wall covered most of the city’s edge on the river, eliminating its natural relationship with the water and the river’s green spaces. The city’s residents, however, maintained their longtime habits around these natural areas, visiting and using them spontaneously. Walking,
resting, drinking mate (Tealike beverage, popular in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and other places in South America.) and especially watching the sunset always continued as typical actions performed by locals, despite the site’s increasing abandonment.
In 2011, during the term of Mayor José Fortunati (2010–2017), the Porto Alegre government finally decided to start a plan to recover the areas above the water’s edge, particularly emphasising those near the city’s historic centre. The project was one hundred percent funded by the Development Bank of Latin America. Although the funds were formally received in 2016, the construction of the first stage began in 2015, with the local government releasing and auditing all initial payments. For Latin America, three consecutive but different administrations were unusually responsible for the entire project’s implementation— Fortunati and his successors, Nelson Marchezan Júnior (2017–2021) and Sebastião Melo (2021-present day).
Called Orla do Guaíba in Portuguese (Coast of Guaíba), the plan includes the renovation and consolidation of the coastal areas and green spaces along the riverbank and the creation of a linear park at various levels on the edge between the city and the water— levels determined by the shoreline modelling
and soil consolidation tasks executed over the years.
The Porto Alegre city government decided to award the project’s design to the internationally renowned Brazil-based office Jaime Lerner Associated Architects. In Brazil, selecting a professional based on the title of “renowned expertise” is applied in exceptional cases under the law of public procurement, prioritising the professionals’ specialisation and public prestige and leaving aside any call for competitions.
Jaime Lerner, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 83, was a three-time mayor of the city of Curitiba (1971–1975, 1979–1983 and 1989–1992), leading the transformation of the city and implementing a public transportation system and environmental programs that became international models of innovative and integrated urban planning. He was also governor of the state of Paraná (1995–2002) and has been recognised for his accomplishments by the United Nations Environment Program (1990), nominated among the 25 most influential thinkers in the world by TIME magazine (2010), and awarded with the Leadership in Transport Award by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2011).
Lerner’s office is located in Curitiba, and the government of Porto Alegre created a local coordination base for the development and implementation of
the project. Architect Oscar Coelho represented the city as the general coordinator of the project and construction, and the environmental and landscape consultant was Carlos Oliveira Perna. Working closely with Lerner’s team, these professionals carried out both the site analysis and the implementation of the different stages of the project.
The first stage was completed in June 2018 and covered an extension of 1.3 kilometres, and the second stage was completed in 2021, covering 1.6 kilometres.
The inspiration and conceptual basis of the project was, from the beginning, the patterns of urban-social behaviour performed by locals over the decades, and the design proposal included all the many possibilities to use and enjoy a unique section in the city. The clear objective of offering the best possible viewpoints and spaces to observe the sunset on the water is realised in many ways throughout the project, especially with the incorporation of the existing different levels of the site.
The difference between the street and the water level is 4.7 meters, and the consolidated soil is about halfway up, 2.5 meters above the water level. This established level, which evolved as a natural portion of the rim, was shaped out of the containment slope
system built along the waterfront over the years as part of the flood-protection works carried out by the local government. In the project, this natural platform was adapted to create a continuous access promenade for commercial spaces, cafés, services, and a large pedestrian lawn slopes gently toward the water. The back of the slope was reinforced with gabions, as retaining walls shielded with greenery. On the surfaces that descend toward the water, horizontal gabions help strengthen the natural soil. To further hold the soil and to recreate the original aquatic environment, the design team incorporated some of the existing riverbank vegetation cover into these structures.
Regarding the planting proposal, the landscape project responds to the levels segmentation of the site. “We differentiated five areas between the water and the street levels, defined by the existing topography, with a list of one hundred percent native plants”, says Oliveira Perna, and then adds, “To assure an adequate list [of species], we toured the natural reserves of Porto Alegre and the region.”
The five areas can be identified at the site: The first two correspond to the aquatic and natural edge environment, allowing only conservation and management actions. The third one is the low promenade and the large pedestrian area that
I WATERFRONT
continues toward the water, where the planting plan incorporates a single kind of native grass (Axonopus repens or carpet grass). The fourth area corresponds to a system of concrete bleachers that negotiate the existing elevation changes and where diverse herbaceous plants and shrubs define edges and outline gathering spaces. At the upper level, the fifth area is an urban esplanade that includes a bike and pedestrian path and is the only section where large trees were planted. “With this linear space, we want to generate a buffer to help reestablish habitat connectivity and the natural relationship between the city and the water’s edge”, explains Oliveira Perna.
The new waterfront becomes a large urban and natural linear space providing recreation, leisure, and contemplation options. The highest level, particularly vibrant due to the proximity to heavily used vehicular arteries and the noise and dynamics of the city, is where the project incorporates a magical 300-meterlong installation. Made up of fibre optic lights laid into the pavement that suddenly glow, all at the same time when the sun goes down, and daylight fades, these thousands of tiny lights create what is locally known as “piso estrelado”, or starry floor. Almost four years after it was finished, people delight in these new connections to the water’s edge at sunset.
As part of the urban proposal, sculptures and installations placed along the shoreline, initially exhibited at the 2005 Mercosul Biennale, were restored or renovated and left at their original locations as iconic local landmarks. In addition, some historic disused buildings near the water were repurposed for new public uses, such as the old gasometer that will house a cultural centre.
The second stage of the project, completed in October 2021, had a different specific goal. As a response to people’s needs and demand for public sportive areas, this phase of the plan focuses on creating a series of fields from where the view of the river remains a key condition. Replicating the linear shape of the first stage, developed along the existing continuous waterfront, this new piece has a larger average width (approximately 100 meters) and offers twenty-nine different sports fields and courts, including soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball and beach volleyball, skating and the largest skatepark in Latin America. Open at day and night hours, every one of the fields and courts can be booked utilising a custom app created by the city government. During the summer of 2023, with record-breaking
temperatures, forty percent of the reservations were made for night practices. Completed with a thoughtful lighting design, surveillance and parking spaces, this almost one and half kilometre-long piece has been wildly popular since it first opened.
The golden hour still is, without exception, the most crowded.
This is an updated version, including the new stages of the project, of an article published in Landscape Architecture Magazine, by Jimena Martignoni.
Location: City of Porto Alegre, Brazil
Date of completion: First Stage, 2018; Second Stage. 2021
Planning and Urban Design: Jaime Lerner
Arquitetos Associados
Landscape Plan: Environmental and Landscape
Consultant Carlos Oliveira Perna
Local Coordination: Architect Oscar Coelho
Area: 6 hectares. Length: 4 kilometres
Photography: Leonardo Finotti / City Government
I FARMHOUSE
Situated in the lush environs of Chattarpur Farms, Delhi, this luxury farmhouse reflects the distinctive style of its owner, Rishabh Kapoor, Director of the esteemed architectural and interiors firm Design Deconstruct. Exuding flamboyance and a larger-than-life attitude, the house boasts unconventional design elements that leave a lasting impression. From floating crystal art pieces in the ceiling to captivating paintings hanging from above, floor-toceiling chandeliers, and statement-making furniture, the residence is adorned with life-sized paintings and sculptures.
The farmhouse’s extravagant character is further accentuated by bold architectural features such as massive double-height decks with balconies, providing an airy ambience and panoramic views. The second floor’s double-height ceiling creates a sense of enormous spatial volume, adding to the home’s opulence.
Introducing the Extravagant Five-Level Farmhouse in Chattarpur Farms, New Delhi
Rishabh Kapoor explains the inspiration behind this sprawling five-level farmhouse: “We wanted a space that is opulent, yet practical.” Working in collaboration with Monica Chadha, Director and Principal Designer at Design Deconstruct, they have successfully crafted a unique aesthetic that combines visual delight with long-term ease of maintenance. The main objectives during the design process were clean aesthetics and uncluttered space.
The layout of the farmhouse caters to the family’s desire to entertain guests both formally and informally while also providing a clear separation between public and private spaces to ensure privacy and efficient management of housekeeping duties by the staff.
Upon entering the home on the upper ground level, visitors are greeted by a grand meditative Buddha statue. This floor comprises a study, pantry, and a small lounge that exudes a chic urban industrial charm with bare plastered walls, open ceilings revealing HVAC ducts, and epoxyfinished flooring.
The first floor houses the formal drawing room, dining area, and main kitchen. The drawing room features two seating clusters, with a grand piano illuminating one corner. Paintings by senior artist Thota Vaikuntham adorn the walls, while the dining room boasts a magnificent 10-seater dining table carved from a single piece of white onyx.
A standout element of the dining room is a floating crystal art piece in the ceiling, which radiates with the falling
light. Artworks by Ramachandran and a stunning console made of brass and amethyst, accompanied by a glorious chandelier, contribute to the exclusive ambience. Two consoles decorated with malachite adorn the first-floor foyer, and a discreetly positioned powder room adds convenience.
With a neutral backdrop, the designers have added exquisite furniture pieces, captivating lights, and awe-inspiring artwork to embellish the spaces. Adjacent to the front greens, a vast balcony extends the dining room, providing an outdoor lounging area.
The residential quarters are located on the second and third floors. The second floor accommodates two master bedrooms, each featuring separate walk-in wardrobes and washrooms. These generously sized rooms, along with their accompanying wardrobes and dressers, exceed 60 square meters. Artworks by Seema Kohli enhance
the opulence of the master bedrooms. The second floor’s highlight is a double-height family lounge that grants access to a serenely designed pooja room. The lounge is adorned with a 26-foot wall panelling comprising marble, veneer, steel, and solid wood cornice, while wooden flooring adds warmth.
The third floor comprises a master bedroom with an en-suite bath and walk-in wardrobe and two guest rooms that overlook the beautifully landscaped surroundings. The passage on the third floor provides a vantage point to the second-floor lounge, fostering constant interaction between the two levels.
The lower ground floor is dedicated to recreation and entertainment
Natural and Organic:
By: XISUI DesignThe undulating red dunes provide an attractive terrain for children to run, jump and roll. We have integrated an array of richly functional children’s activity installations into the topography, creating a natural harmony that evokes the sense of a mountain nest or a jungle treehouse. Employing parameterised design, drainage optimisation simulation, and structural form-finding algorithms, we have crafted a captivating outdoor space that seamlessly blends into the earth, inspiring children and adults with a playful spirit to enjoy the pleasures of the great outdoors.
DESIGN HIGHLIGHTS
Parametric topography design. The overall topography design, generated digitally according to the complexity and slope of the terrain, features differentiated zones for younger and older children. The diverse children’s activity facilities are seamlessly integrated into the natural surroundings.
Natural drainage is calculated digitally, eliminating the need for drainage outlets on the surface.
Despite the undulating terrain, the algorithm used to generate the terrain calculated and eliminated all possible solutions that could lead to localised water accumulation, ensuring a complete natural drainage system. All rainwater within the site can flow naturally into the green spaces and designated peak drainage outlets surrounding the site. As a result, there is no need for drainage outlets on the site surface.
Concrete shell structure, a challenge for form and structure.
The undulated concrete shell structure creates a cave-like topography that follows the natural landscape, providing a remarkable space for climbing above and taking shelter below. The shell structure form, which borrows from the natural arch’s load transfer, can easily combine
large spans and ultra-thin structural thicknesses. In the landscape setting, it achieves a smooth connection with the terrain, allowing the artificial design to blend better with the landscape while realising larger spans, reducing column points, and avoiding space waste.
Project Name: Natural and Organic: Red Dunes Playtopia
Design: XISUI Design
Construction: XISUI Design
Completion Year: August 25, 2022
Website: http://xisuidesign.com/
Email: info@xisui.design
Construction Area: 1300
Project Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
Photo Credits: XISUI Design
Clients: Guangdong Poly Urban Development Co., Ltd.
Structural Design: Spiring Architectural Design & Shanghai Chenggang Structural Design Associates
Beyond Curating Experiential Landscapes: Designing for Resilience
By: Architect Rituparna SimlaiIn September 2017, Hurricane Irma slammed the coast of South Florida, after battering the Bahamas causing major devastation. The unprecedented impact of the disaster underscored our lack of preparedness and our choices to live in hurricane-prone areas without taking adequate precautions. It was a powerful example illustrating Benjamin Franklin’s words, “By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail”.
Natural disasters like Irma not only impact infrastructure and housing but also wreak havoc on natural ecosystems, such as coastal forests, mangrove swamps, hardwood hammocks, and forested wetlands. These ecosystems face significant damage from hurricane winds, uprooting trees and stripping verdure. Despite their resilience, these coastal forests serve the vital purpose of acting as physical barriers that reduce the impact of strong winds and storm surges.
One remarkable example of how even man-made ecosystems can enhance storm resistance is evident in Naluvedapathy, Tamil Nadu. When it didn’t rain in
the region for a long stretch of time in 2002, a family in the village planted 80,000 trees along the river banks to invoke the rain gods. This set a Guinness World Record for the largest tree planting done in 24 hours. When the Tsunami devoured the coastal plains of the Indian subcontinent in 2004, this was one of the few villages that sustained minimal damage, due to the wall of trees.
Natural disasters serve as wake-up calls, urging us to honor the sacredness and supremacy of nature. All native cultures around the world acknowledged the dominion of nature, and they honored its existence. In the Anthropocene Epoch, these events prompt us to analyze our actions and design interventions that impact the environment. While we cannot prevent disasters, we can take measures at varying scales to mitigate their destructive impact on local populations and ecosystems. Every disaster presents an opportunity for renewal and new beginnings that are more grounded.
Reviving the landscape of Plaza on Brickell after Hurricane Irma
The Plaza on Brickell, a residential complex along the bayfront in Miami, saw a trail of devastation due to Hurricane Irma, where a majority of its landscape and once-thriving garden areas were in ruins. The towering palms that once graced the landscape were felled, and some even uprooted. Initially, the board members and contractors planned to replant the pool deck with smaller versions of the same species, despite their unsuitability for the region. This project was estimated to cost a staggering $200,000, perpetuating the same mistake.
As a resident of the area, I was naturally unhappy with the direction the project was taking. With my passion for planting, and experience as a landscape architect, I volunteered with the management to redesign the property’s landscape.
Working together with residents, contractors and the local nurseries, a conscientiously articulated planting plan with wind tolerant species was developed. By removing certain sections of the sidewalk and hardscape areas surrounding the building complex, we expanded the planting areas to allow stormwater infiltration, reducing runoff. Along the sidewalks,the addition of more green spaces and meandering paths nestled along palm trunks created charming gathering spots.
Amidst the concrete building setting, we integrated edible berries and flowering species that acted as a haven for butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, creating small hubs of biodiverse activity. Whenever possible, native specimen trees took center stage, blending harmoniously with the local soil and climate. They allowed us to minimize the need for excessive fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation, as these resilient species established themselves naturally, ensuring long-term stability. These indigenous species infused the design with a distinct sense of local character, contributing to the city’s identity.
Responding to the local climate and the hurricaneprone environment, we strategically introduced trees that could withstand high winds, offering minimal resistance to the flow. These trees typically have smaller leaf structures that shed quickly, and in some cases, they might lose a limb or branch to avoid being uprooted or sustaining severe damage to the main trunk. To honor the existing palm trees that survived the aftermath we cladded their trunks with flowering native orchids. Today, the Plaza on Brickell is a vibrant and thriving urban refuge with strategically located social nodes, complemented by a tranquil planting palette.
Rooted in the concept that every disaster offers an opportunity for new beginnings, the project taught us a valuable lesson: Responsible design is designing a
resilient landscape that is not just for mere survival in the future but also allows for a steady recovery after an aftermath. It is to establish a purpose of design beyond functionality or aesthetics or physically uniting fragmented spaces. True design happens in the womb of sacredness. Our purpose is to understand and enhance the prevailing energy of the place- the genius loci or the inspiring force. With this immense learning, the project became the stepping stone for the inception of my own design practice, Studio Arth, which is built on the foundation to design with a purpose.
Curating social nodes and immersive landscapes
Along with planting for resilience, landscape design must also beckon visitors on a journey of discovery, offering a dynamic, spiritual experience. Creating immersive and socially engaging landscapes in public places requires a deep appreciation for the organic nature of plant life. The key lies in employing meticulous framing techniques to guide users’ views, skillfully blending varying heights, backdrops, elements, and water bodies. Harmoniously fusing textures, visuals, scents, and the natural elements of trees, earth, water and light enriches the design process, resulting in a truly unique and mesmerizing landscape encounter.
Transforming open spaces into landscaped urban oases demands a harmonious blend of artistry, sustainability, and contextual understanding. By curating immersive landscapes that complement surrounding architecture and cater to the needs of both the community and local biodiversity, landscape designers have the power to rejuvenate damaged areas, creating vibrant and inclusive environments for all.
The journey of recovery, rejuvenation, and impact requires time and patience. As Mark Twain humorously noted, everyone complains about the weather, but few take action. Living in disaster-prone areas transcends landscape design; it necessitates heightened awareness and preparedness within local communities. Responsible design involves taking ownership of our surroundings, adapting to nature’s rhythms, and cycles and being in sync with our surroundings. It means preparing for disasters rather than blaming authorities or the environment. Beyond aesthetics and functionality, landscape designers have the opportunity to create designs with a greater purpose, ones that are resilient and allow the local communities and biodiversity to thrive.
10 Design reveals “GRASSLAND VILLAGE”
future school design at the heart of Hangzhou
International architecture practice 10 Design (part of Egis Group) has won the competition to design a major 74,000 sq m school project within Qianjiang New City of Hangzhou, China.
10 Design envisages an innovative educational hub for 2,000 elementary school students which doubles as an accessible and child-friendly public space for the community. Led by Design Principal Peby Pratama, the “grassland village”
concept of the future school breaks away from the traditional primary school layout within a singular institutional building.
The new campus maximises the waterfront site by introducing an undulating green deck at the heart
of the design which bridges the urban green corridor in the west to the high-rise residential community in the east. Acting as a floating oasis within the dense urban context of Hangzhou, the ergonomic deck ties the functional clusters together, while providing ample green outdoor space to facilitate the interaction between landscape, teachers and students.
The school masterplan includes 48 teaching units, alongside specialised education facilities for science, art, PE, IT and performance art. The three teaching blocks divided by grade level are placed in the southeast and away from the motorway, encouraging communication and collective learning for students of similar age.
Below the green deck are shared facilities including the library, canteen, activity rooms situated along an east-west main street, which runs through the campus serving as a central public space. Skylight atriums draw sunlight into the specialised classrooms while creating a series of intimate courtyards and breakout spaces. The masterplan also includes an 800-seat performance theatre in the northwest corner which will be shared with the local community.
An earthy colour palette and natural textures were chosen for the façade to articulate the idea
of a safe, healthy campus in nature. Moreover, the development as a whole maximises daylight, natural ventilation and green area which is reflected in the classroom design and orientation. The student dropoff point is strategically placed within the basement together with the queue-measuring smart system, preventing a build-up of overground traffic.
“Our vision is to create a learning environment that facilitates environmental education and social interaction for our future generations. The design, emphasising openness, vitality and sustainability, is an organic response as well as a celebration of nature in the new city of Hangzhou,” shared Peby.
Qianjiang school is established as a future facing urban centre through its high-standard, low-density education space. Moreover, it will serve as a key international anchor for Hangzhou, complementing its reputation for “paradise on earth” scenery as well as high-tech enterprise cluster driving economic growth.
Project Data
Name: Qianjiang New City Future School
Location: Hangzhou, China
Client: Hangzhou Chengdong New Town Development Co. Ltd.
Scope by 10 Design- Masterplanning, Architecture
Type: Education, Civic & Culture
Site Area: 41,000sqm
GFA: 74,000sqm
Status: On-going
10 Design Team:
Design Principal : Peby Pratama
Project Leader: Joey Qu, Shuo Zhang
Architecture : Yan Liu, Luke Santoso, Grace
Zhang, Bethany Huang, Ryan Zhao, Gillian Du, Jiaxing Lu, Siyi Li
Visualisation by: Frontop