A bi-monthly independent review column written by me, focusing on selected thoughtful contemporary artists/designers in the fields of environment art and landscape architecture outside of China, and their built works. 12 issues, 2009-11.

The column of "Contemporary Landscape Criticism  當代景觀評論" is published in the journal of LA China  景观设计学 (Beijing University / Turenscape; renamed LAF Landscape Architecture Frontiers since 2013). These reviews on recent landscape projects and interviews with contemporary designers are written in the hope to highlight the process of thinking, not merely the end products, in the design of our environment (landscapes, gardens and parks alike). The belief is that sustainability needs to be addressed from multifaceted views. Environmental issues should never be simplified into a matter of populist discourse, but to be approached, with the greatest respect and understanding to history, as a matter of reframing the mind on the levels of  aesthetics and ethics in everyday life. It is therefore part of our collective construction of a new culture towards nature. It is part of the contemporary social process in redefining the common good, without abandoning tradition and cultural identity.

Each issue of the column presents exclusively one built project, or one thoughtful designer, outside of China, focusing on the process of thinking, the design method, the resulting changes in culture and aesthetics. This column is supported by contemporary designers and artists who are interested in ideas as much as forms. They see environmental creation as functional, cultural and social; a meaningful engagement with the world beyond the limited pursuit of formalism and personal ego. Readers, in particular students, have responded very positively to this column, and been inspired by the works of these artists and designers. 

Bilingual, texts in Chinese and English.

2009 Global Environmental Design (project reviews by Xin WU 吳欣)

no.01    Introduction  导言          

no.02    Diana Balmori - New Urban Ecology along the Mississippi River (United States)  

密西西比河岸的新城市生态 (美国)

no.03    Stig Andersson - Landscaping for a New Life in Public Housing (Denmark)  

景观设计再塑邻里新生 (丹麦)

no.04    Yoshio Nakamura - History and Culture in the Shaping of Contemporary Urban Public Park (Japan)  

历史与文化铸就的当代城市公园 (日本)   

no.05    Mohammad Shaheer - A Modern Sense of History at Sanskriti Kendra (India)  

为有现代感的历史与文化而造景 (印度)

no.06    Fernando Chacel - The Regeneration Plan of Barra di Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)   

费尔南多·查塞尔与里约热内卢巴拉-荻-蒂茹卡区再生设计 (巴西)

2010 Conversations with Contemporary Designers (conducted by Xin WU 吳欣)

no.01    Xin WU - YU Kongjian (China) Interview: between Chineseness and vernacular modernity   

吴欣 - 俞孔坚[中国]访谈: 中国化与乡土现代化   

no.02    Xin WU - Bernard LASSUS (France) Interview: between visual art and landscape poetics   

吴欣 - 贝尔纳 · 拉素斯[法国]访谈: 视觉艺术与景观的诗意 

no.03    Xin WU - Patricia JOHANSON (USA) Interview: between public art and environment infrastructure  

吴欣 - 帕特里夏 · 约翰逊[美国]访谈: 公共艺术与环境基础设施

no.04    Xin WU - Diana BALMORI (USA) Interview: between urban landscape and natural beauty  

吴欣 - 戴安娜 · 巴摩里[美国]访谈: 城市景观与新美学

no.05    Xin WU - Erik DHONT (Belgium) Interview: between modern aesthetics and garden tradition  

吴欣 - 埃里克 · 董特[比利时]访谈: 当代美学与欧洲造园传统

no.06    Xin WU - Paolo BURGI (Switzerland) Interview: between landscape design and creative interpretation  

吴欣 - 帕奥罗· 伯吉[瑞士]访谈: 景观设计与创造性的诠释

2011        Closing Remarks  結語 (by Xin WU 吳欣)