I am really excited to announce that confessions of a design geek is the official media partner for the Design Council’s Ones To Watch initiative. That means that over the coming months, I’ll be interviewing bright young designers that the Design Council has identified as the stars of the future. Chris Moss’ Soapbox – public eco-shower modules designed to encourage people to cycle to work and exercise more – was included under the Healthier and Happier Category alongside Emily Tulloh’s Summerbug Trike for a four-year old girl with Rett Syndrome and Matthew Thompson’s Low Cost Prosthetic Hand. I caught up with Chris to find out more about his design practice.
What’s the most important thing to know about you?
I’m passionate about plants and landscape design to probably an unhealthy and definitely an obsessional level! My wife and I moved to Kew on the grounds that it would save the precious weekend time we were spending on the tube, having developed a weekend commuting habit to Kew Gardens.
What inspires your work?
People’s experiences and enjoyment of spaces. It’s such a privilege to be able to design spaces that people might want spend time in, whether it’s someone enjoying their lunch break in a square around the corner from their office, or a child that keeps dragging their parents to a fun play area. Having previously worked to formulate government policies to tackle the negative effects of climate change, I now find that landscape architecture has allowed me to directly influence and shape the landscape legacy that our generation will leave behind. It’s really rewarding to see the direct effect that you have on your environment as a landscape architect, when what you design in the studio, could be built and in use only a few months later.
Talk me through your design and making process.
It changes depending on the type of project and how I get to know about it. If I’m working directly with a garden design client, the process kicks off with a chat to develop a brief. This is the start of a collaborative relationship with further design discussions moving us from concept sketches to a measured design that’s drawn up with enough detail for construction. Depending on the client’s needs I’ll then work with them to find the best contractor to build the scheme and often oversee the build to its initial completion. I use the term ‘initial completion’ because whether it’s a public park or a private garden, the design’s evolution continues through the seasons and over the years as the planting develops. It’s this temporal element to landscape design that really excites me and why I like to continue working with clients after their schemes have been built to support them as their landscape evolves. When it comes to competition entries, I’ll usually enter a competition because it sparks several ideas before I’ve even finished reading the brief.
What’s your favourite part of the process?
I love making models and where possible my design process will focus either on a physical (usually cardboard) model or increasingly a computer-based one. As computer modelling and rendering programmes become more intuitive they have become incredibly useful tools that are also a fun part of the design process. Whereas a fellow designer, engineer or contractor can easily visualise a scheme from plans and elevations, my clients aren’t used to visualising a scheme from these. Models show clients how a design will look and offer an easy communication tool that allows the client to more easily discuss and collaborate on the design they’ve commissioned.
What’s your favourite tool and why?
A Caran d’Ache desktop pencil sharpener that’s clamped to my desk. It turns sharpening pencils into an addictive activity and there’s always an amazing smell from the shavings drawer.
Tell me about a really good day and a really bad day in the life of Chris Moss.
Good day: having clicked with a client while discussing their project brief, the commission is off to a great start and the ideas are flowing.
Bad day: someone mentions the term ‘value engineering’.
What defines good design?
Something that works well without explanation while also being sensually pleasing. In landscape design I think you often find it when a scheme has a good balance between function, beauty and budget, in which no one element dominates at the cost of the other two.
What are you most proud of?
My wife, for her constant drive and ability to succeed in a very competitive corporate world while also retaining her compassion and honesty. Without her encouragement I probably wouldn’t have kept pushing to find the happiness that a career in landscape design has given me.
What advice would you give to an aspiring designer?
Take every opportunity open to you and keep looking for more. Whether it’s entering a competition or fully engaging with optional school or university projects. Some might not work out but it just makes the ones that do all the sweeter.
What did it mean to you to be selected as one of the Design Council’s Ones To Watch?
Having recently taken the daunting decision to start my own studio, being selected as a ‘One to Watch’ has provided me with a great boost of support and a validation that I did the right thing. Setting up Earthenware Landscape Architects has provided me with the liberty to explore the more conceptual side of landscape design, as I can now divide my time between client commissions and competition entries that allow more creative freedom. Designing entries like ‘Soap Box’ for a Landscape Institute competition has allowed me to support their advocacy efforts as they champion the need for more environmentally sustainable landscape design.
And finally, what’s your favourite colour?
Marine Blue – it’s not only calming but also has a lovely contemplative or melancholic depth to it depending on my mood.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- interview :: primary grey
- out and about :: stockholm
- out and about :: twelve at stockholm furniture fair 2015
- out and about :: ambiente frankfurt
