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Steven Velegrinis |
Current position & company?
Academic qualifications? I have worked here for three years. |
Which major projects have you been involved with throughout your career?
MENA: Food City, Dubai; Airport City, Doha; Abu Dhabi Airport Midfield Terminal Complex Landscape; Arabian Canal, Dubai, Central Sharjah Masterplan; Sharjah East Coast Masterplan; Palm Jumeirah Central Park, Dubai; Tunis Sports City, Tunisia; Sharjah Creative City; Kempinski Hotel, The Wave Muscat; Yahsat Sattelite Tracking Station, Abu Dhabi
WORLD: Santos Dumont Mixed Use Development, Rio, Brazil; Abuja World Trade Centre, Nigeria; University of New South Wales Singapore Campus Masterplan; ABC Waterways Masterplan Singapore; Southern Ridges Open Space Masterplan, Singapore; Zhenjiang Film City Masterplan, China; Dalian Raycom Eco-Technology City, Dalian, China; Wuqing Wetlands and Mixed Use Residential Community, Tianjin, China; Kochi Marine Drive Mixed Use Development, India;
Describe your Dream Project?
I have been extremely fortunate throughout my career to have worked on some fantastic projects. Recently I’ve been able to work on a site adjacent to one of Roberto Burle-Marx’ early gardens in Rio and that was really special. My ideal projects are those where I can shape an entire masterplan around a landscape framework maximizing the sustainability of large urban areas. Woods Bagot has given me plenty of opportunities in this field of work and my ideal project is probably something like the Zero E Masterplans for zero emissions design. My PhD is also a dream project and it is focused around urban planning scenarios for Singapore, showing how Landscape can shape and function ecologically in densely developed Asian Metropolis.
How do you see the future of the landscape industry in the GCC region developing?
The Global Financial Crisis put the craziness of the past few years well behind us and sustainability and infrastructure are the two key growth areas in this part of the world. On the back of global trends towards Green Infrastructure and Landscape Urbanism, I think that the increasingly ecologically focused and biologically functioning urban landscapes will become a key development of the industry here. Water conservation and a return to more vernacular and responsible landscapes will also be a key development in the industry.
What is your Motto in life?
Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…
