14 LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AOTEAROA
JF : Where to from here , in terms of another book ?
PS : In the medium term , I won ’ t be working on another book . It ’ s extremely expensive and time-consuming – although I ’ m very glad I expended the effort and money on Vernacular . In the long term , there may be an opportunity for a book on threatened native plants .
RJ : CCNC was always approached as an ‘ open book ’. It was about the story so far , not a retrospective of definitive work . CCNC captures a point in time , so it ’ s possible there will be a sequel , one day . But the purpose and time would need to be right . And one thing is for certain , it would be quite different to CCNC . We approach every project from the ground up .
GF : To my surprise , I am indeed writing another book . This one , on the work of Harry Turbott , New Zealand ’ s first tertiary-qualified landscape architect . I am motivated by the need for the leading work that Harry provided us to be well known and celebrated . Writing books is a major financial loss-making exercise – it ’ s a pity ; maybe online publications are the way of the future .
JF : What one thing , more than any other , would you like people to take away from reading the book ?
PS : To really look at – and value – the places in which they live .
RJ : I ’ d like general readers to gain a deeper appreciation of the interaction – or design conversation – between our land , our people and our culture . But more than anything , I would like people to be inspired to go and visit some of the projects in the book and see part of Aotearoa New Zealand in a way they hadn ’ t seen it before .
GF : That the future is in our hands and that we should be emboldened by the good work that has been done here by those who have gone before us – it ’ s an intergenerational responsibility .
JF : And finally , If I had known at the beginning of this process what I know now , I …?
PS : … might have altered a small number of trips to take in places or objects that we have since seen ( or been told about ). However , there isn ’ t anything significant that I would alter . A lot of thought over many years went into forming ideas around this and David Straight and I were comprehensive in how we went about the project .
RJ : ... would never have got started ! I ’ m only half joking ... this exercise was right up there with the few hardest projects I have ever done . At least half of it was done in my ‘ spare time ’, working the night shift , sharing takeaway chicken dinners in the studio with Sarah and Mike , or spread out on the kitchen table at home typing away on the laptop long after I ’ d got the kids to bed . If Inhouse and Mike had known what they know now , would they have got involved ? Absolutely ! We really gelled as a creative team . It was an iterative process and we were all good with that as we all had the same aim of making it as good as it could be . Like all things in life , the more you put in the more you get out .
GF : … you know , I honestly had thought that I could finish the book in two or three years ! In truth , it was a marathon effort , which I am glad I was able to complete and that family , friends and work colleagues were there to support me . �