One of my wishes is working at a place where I can feel nature for I’ve lived a city called Seoul made chaotic by urbanisation for 15 years. When the moment came for me to decide my future when I was 20 years old, after considering which job had the most potential to make the most beautiful urban environment and experience nature, I entered for horticulture course in Kon-kuk University. The horticulture course in Korea is divided into 4 parts: fruits, vegetables, flowering plants and landscape architecture.
For the first 2 years, the overall and basic knowledge is studied and then, the next 2 years involved detail study on a specific area chosen by me. I chose to study, within landscape architecture, about how a horticulture student could influence the Landscape Architecture part. My aim was not only the design focused on the visual aspects, but making a beautiful landscape through the understanding of plants. I studied Korean plants of great variety during the 4 years; however the plants used in Korean landscape architectures were too simple to create the views like the British garden designs that were my ideals. Therefore, I made up my mind to study English garden design in UK, and so, in order to learn the English style of design, I studied floristry for 6 months. I received certification in McQeen’s shop after a 4-weeks course and an internship for 2 months. It is crucial for florists to consider how to portray harmony and beauty using flowers and plants as well as knowing about the characters and understanding the colours of the plants. In this course, I feel that I learned more than floristry; I learned also of the harmony in the design of plants. After that, I studied garden design at Writtle College in order to learn the art of design professionally. In the first year, I studied garden design in conversion course, and for a year after that I studied Landscape Architecture in Master course. Through this process I realised the importance of green space in cities. Furthermore I felt proud in knowing that I could create a positive environment by designing landscapes and breathing life back into the dry built environment of cities, but regardless of this, I felt that I had missed something important when these courses were over.
