Architect of harmony

"I think one of the great things about working in China is this very strong cultural tradition, and it runs through almost everything in daily life. And that comes out in design when you're designing. It's really interesting and quite stimulating like a great hook to hang your hat on. You need something to work against. It's useless if there's nothing there," he says.

In the Chengdu Silk Road Garden, Chetwood uses the sun bird in the Jinsha Site and the elements of the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project in his own design, presenting a treasure trove of nature. Likewise in the Wuhan Water Show Garden, he integrates the Shenlongjia Nature Reserve and the Yangtze River system into the garden, displaying 75 native Chinese plants of different species. In Chetwood's view, China's vast territory of 9.6 million square kilometers contains endless historical and cultural treasures, as well as a mysterious world of natural creatures. When creating Future City Garden, he hoped to present an ideal garden where people and nature, cities and villages coexist harmoniously, and create a sustainable future ecological world. This is exactly the spring city of Kunming he has seen, and the China he has understood for many years.

"The collaboration with the Chinese I find stimulating. It's always a sort of 'can do' mentality, which isn't the same everywhere. The Chinese will say we love your ideas. Can we think of even better ideas? That's always the case. As a designer, you sometimes get to say I love your idea, but then it gets dumped. And then maybe the money isn't there. What I call an ice cube problem is when you have a great idea in the beginning, but at the end, like ice melting, it vanishes. This isn't the case in China, it tends to go the other way, which is really stimulating for a designer," he says.

Chetwood was the first architect to win a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In Britain, where horticultural design tends to be conservative, many gardens are confined to the framework of traditional paradigms. Chetwood has injected architectural, environmental and technological elements into horticultural design, creating a series of refreshing installation gardens. Urban Oasis is one of Chetwood's gold-winning works. This 12-meter-high ecological sculpture is eye-catching. The flower-shaped sculpture driven by solar energy is open during the day and closed at night, and uses the sculpture itself to collect rainwater to supply garden plants.