ZHU Zijing

28-Jan-2021

First group meeting

After discussions with groupmates, we identified multiple possible ideas for presenting the topic “winning a project”, including mock up quiz game and role play. We summarized the key information around this topic and conducted an action plan for the following weeks. At the beginning of discussion, we also had a very brief self-intro with each other. The form of mutual introduction worked as an ice-breaking process efficiently.

04-Feb-2021

“Are you a landscape architect”

This session is really important for each of us in the class, not only for its kind reminder of liability and diligence as a landscape architect, but also for the endless opportunities we have the choice to fight for.

11-Feb-2021

“Where do you work”

Today’s sharing reminds us that going straight to RLA in Hong Kong just after graduation is not necessarily the only and best choice. There are many people who have been engaged in the landscape design industry for many years but do not necessarily have a registered certificate. This was confirmed in the subsequent office visit of earth asia.

25-Feb-2021

“You Are the Boss”

In this sharing, my biggest gain is that I learned to think about problems in others' shoes. As a boss, appearance of design is not always the most important issue. The company's development planning, risk control, employee management, etc. all require more long-term comprehensive and in-depth consideration. If these are ignored, junior employees may even have disputes with the boss because they cannot understand some of the boss’s decisions. I think this is a very important lesson before the start of a new career as a landscape designer.

First mini quiz

After the first mini quiz for the first three topics, I realized that applying knowledge learnt in class to real problems still requires a lot of reflection and practice. Examples included tree removal issues without government permission and insurance decisions within a limited budget. Furthermore, I couldn’t identify the job positions provided by the HK government clearly unless flipping through relevant materials. Documents like code of conduct are worth memorizing for the future career path.

04-Mar-2021

Second mini quiz

More topics are involved in this quiz and it becomes seemingly impossible to select the right answer without referring to other materials and discussions. Question 9 also helped me reflect on the pros and cons of working in a big company. Several government documents could help this quiz, including:

• Practice Note 2/2020 (Lands Administration Office Lands Department) Tree Preservation and Removal Proposal for Building Development in Private Projects Compliance of Tree Preservation Clause under Lease.

• Technical Circular (Works) No. 4/2020 (Development Bureau) Tree Preservation.

• Technical Circular (Works) No. 6/2015 (Development Bureau) Maintenance of Vegetation and Hard Landscape Features.

• EIAO Guidance Note 8/2010 and Annexes 10 and 18 of EIAO-™

• Plan D Practice Note 1-2019

09-Mar-2021

Second group meeting

We tracked the progress of the work and aligned the goals of the next phase for the group presentation. The division of work and the interviewees were also determined in this group discussion.

11-Mar-2021

Interviews with Jason and Ivan

I received a lot of insights from talking with Jason Hilgefort and Ivan Valin about their cross-regional practices in the landscape realm. Discussions covered but not limited to some tricks for the bidding process, collaboration with other teams, methods of negotiations, etc. Jason also kindly shared his recent winning project in mainland.

18-Mar-2021

“Winning a project”

Reflection on group presentation

Since today's sharing involves a lot of not that interesting knowledge, one of the ideas of this presentation is to present these complex contents to the audience in a way that is as intuitive and contextual as possible and easy to understand. However, it may be that the whole presentation is not smooth enough, such as the connection between different parts, resulting in unsatisfactory results. And several points could be improved in future cooperation.

25-Mar-2021

Third mini quiz

It was quite difficult for me to identify each position’s role in the working process. A brief summary is listed as follows:

Independent Checker (RLA):

Ensure the operation quality of the landscape works

Employer:

Responsible to Tender the Contract

Supervising Officer:

Ensure the quality of the construction of the landscape work

Client:

Responsible under the contract to design the roads, landscapes, buildings and build the landscape

Client:

Selecting the Project Team

Providing the budget for the Project

Agreeing the cost of the landscape works

Requiring cost reductions

Project Landscape Architect:

Estimating the cost of the landscape works

Quantity Surveyor:

Working out the cost of the Project,

Lead Consultant:

Advising where to make cost reductions,

Proposing the list of Tenderers,

Hiring sub-consultants,

Assessing the list of Tenderers,

Issuing the Tender documents,

08-Apr-2021

Site visit by Urbis

In this office visit, my biggest gain is that as a landscape designer, just sitting in the office and drawing pictures on the computer is definitely not enough. I have seen the complex issues and the challenges and fun of multi-department coordination when working in the field. At the same time, facing real problems of the site (such as dealing with landfills), I feel that this job has more responsibilities and responsibilities.

15-Apr-2021

”Hire me“

In the face of competitive practice such as job hunting, I learned in this course that we must be well prepared and have precise goals. Empathy can help us better prepare for interviews and archival materials.

29-Apr-2021

Reflection on peer assessment and interview

A great opportunity for me to look back this semester with reflection on the achievements and drawbacks. Peer assessment process reminded me of how many contributions my group mates had made and the amazing group project cannot be finished without everyone’s talent, diligence and hard work. I also identified a lot of things to improve if there’s any opportunity to collaborate next time, which is precious for me and for the class as a whole.

18-May-2021

Thesis Final Presentation

After the presentation was completed, I had a brief discussion on EIA practice with David Gallacher, a guest who is the regional director of the department of environmental and ecological planning in Aecom. We exchanged the idea that the current landscape architect is a very limited work in participating in eia's visual impact assessment. And then he also shared some embarrassments of the current EIA practice in Hong Kong, such as when some legally protected animals are supported by sufficient funds. Many species not on the list are ignored. At the same time, the current practice of EIA in Hong Kong has not touched the social impact of the developments at all. Although the industries engaged in are not the same, these all require us to work strategically for both nature and livelihood of people while complying with the code of conduct.