Architect of harmony

It is because of this breakthrough design that Chetwood was appointed to design the Chelsea Garden for two Chinese cities, Chengdu and Wuhan. China has a long history of garden art, but Chetwood has no intention of repeating history in his creation. He always focuses on the present. When designing the Wuhan Water Show Garden, he incorporated the common elements of National Day flower beds in China into his creation, which caused quite a controversy at the time, but Chetwood hoped to break through the inherent boundaries of Eastern and Western aesthetics in this way.

Chetwood always incorporates the latest environmental technology in his design. He once presided over the design of the world's first zero-carbon building. This is also one of the main reasons why he was invited to design a themed installation for COP 15. He hopes the conference will boost cooperation between different governments.

"They sort of rise above the politics and then it should be a collaboration between nations. It should be an international approach to this, rather than people try to maybe take the high ground. I think it's important to get a collaborative idea going over government level. And then what we've been trying to do in this particular project is to show how individuals can take part in this as well. So everybody is doing their bit. That will also help, but it obviously needs a major input from governments working together," he says.

"I see the Chinese people approaching development with great creativity, optimism and enthusiasm. China has always shown a sense of acceptance of new developments. The enthusiasm for more ambitious ideas is also the philosophy I believe in. As an architect who strives to surpass the past, there is no doubt that China is a good place for me to work in."

Chetwood hopes that at a time when the pandemic becomes so normalized, COP 15 can allow more people to hear the voice of 'Together to build a global ecological civilization and protect global biodiversity', and he also hopes that his artwork can bring people something to think about ecological balance and sustainable development of human society.

Contact the writer at zhanglei@chinadaily.com.cn