The Landscape Studio is a Nairobibased landscape architecture practice with a diverse portfolio of work across East Africa. Founders Chloe Humphreys and Michael Humphreys presented at Melbourne School of Design in late 2023 as part of the Dean’s Lecture Series. While in Melbourne, they spoke with Emily Wong about honesty of materials, their relationship with contractors, and respecting the existing qualities of a place.
Emily Wong – How would you describe the ethos of your practice?
Michael Humpreys – We see landscape architecture as the intermediate space between the human space and the “natural” space. Everything that we do is about being respectful and being honest, and most of all we want to respect the place. That’s why we start with what’s there – we want to preserve the existing place.
I often use the phrase “you play withyou have” to describe where our design process starts. Play is key to our work – it grounds it. We believe it’s okay to play, that it’s good to play, and that by playing, you enter into a kind of observation mode. Our practice is very observation-driven.
