M.Paul Friedberg (courtesy www.mpfp.com)

M. Paul Friedberg, 73, is an internationally renowned landscape architect based in New York. A fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Friedberg has also made his mark as a scholar, educator, and writer. He has been on the faculty of Columbia University, the New School for Social Research, as well as guest lecturer at numerous colleges throughout the United States and Canada. He has also authored four books on landscape design.

Recipient of more than 100 prestigious awards in recognition for his exemplary performance over the last five decades, at present he is the director of the Urban Landscape Architecture Program at City College of New York and founding partner for M. Paul Friedberg and Partners. He was recently in Kathmandu to oversee the design aspects of Clean Developers promoted Central Park Premium Apartment project – the first residential complex that has created a new benchmark in real estate development in Nepal by incorporating landscape design, among the range of facilities and features it offers. In an interview with Anand Gurung of Nepalnews.com, Friedberg talked about how he entered into this field all by chance, the development of landscape design over the years, its changing roles and its importance in modern day urban living. Excerpts:

To start with, tell us how did you start your career as a landscape architect?

I was born in 1931, at the beginning of the depression in America’s fourth largest city, Brooklyn and later moved to a small town near New York where I grew up and got my early education. After receiving my Bachelor of Sciences from Cornell University in 1954, I was expected to pursue a career in the field of ornamental horticulture, as it was what I majored in. However, as fate would have it, I instead headed for New York, and where unable to pursue a career in the field of horticulture, I found my way into a Landscape Architecture office seeking employment. So, although I was not actually a landscape architect, I started my career in the field through sheer drive than skill. You can say it was all by accident that I got into this field.

One of Friedberg's exquisite landscape design

When I started work no body in the city had a clear idea what landscape architecture was. They basically though that it was a profession that primarily designed gardens and parks. In the beginning of my career I did site plans and designed playgrounds for low-income public housing authorities in New York. There were virtually no amenities to speak of in those public housing blocks, every detail was dictated by the institutional rules of the housing authorities. This was because the people who lived in those building couldn’t afford it and the attitude of the developers was to just house these people in the least possible cost. In the name of amenities, all that the people living there had were strips of land which were called playgrounds. But that too were strictly uniform. There were fences to protect the green area and if you even accidentally tread in it you ran the risk of being literally kicked out from your residential block. At some point a housing authority awarded me and my architecture team a grant to re-do these dull spaces in a public housing. They just provided the money and didn’t interfere with our design. So we were free to come up with interesting layouts and designs to make the playground notable. We installed an ampi-theatre in it, and included various other amenities so at the end the result was the country’s first adventure playground. As against conventional practices, we basically came up with a design with the people in our mind. So it was a reversal of attitude, sort of conceptual reassessment of what urban spaces should be. The time was right for creative approaches as standard project designs of that time were facing increasing criticism.

So this was how the concept of landscape or urban design caught among the planners?

Yes, we were able to convey the message that landscape design is not just associated with mere design of a garden or parks, but overall design of an environment complete with structures. The main aim is to design a space not only for enjoyment, rest and relaxation, but which, at the same time, makes people reconsider their inner selves and makes them feel mentally composed. The recent awareness of environmental problems has also led to growing interest in the field of landscape design. Similarly, landscape architecture now also tends to be taken as a marketing tool for high-end residential projects. Developers are keen to build exquisite residential complexes to attract more people to buy it, and landscape architecture has made that possible. What this shows is that landscape design is no longer an adjunct of architecture or architectural design, but that the two form an integral whole.

Tell us, what kind of projects have you undertaken till now?

My firm -- M.Paul Friedberg and Partners -- has extensive experience in interdisciplinary landscape architecture, urban design and planning in many countries. The quality of services it provides has been acknowledged worldwide with over hundred professional awards. Over the years our work has become increasingly diverse, which include range of services from planning, programming, designing, engineering and construction supervision of commercial-institutional facilities, parks and play environments, plazas, malls and new residential communities. During the past several years the firm has expanded its domestic and international work to include projects in many major cities in the U.S including, Israel, Brazil, Pakistan, India, Turkey, Hong Kong and Japan.

Now that you are working on a new residential project in Kathmandu, can you tell us what would your major focus be?

I am here to oversee the design aspects of Central Park, a luxury green residential apartment project being undertaken by Clean Developers Pvt Ltd. I would be assisting ARCOP , the principal architects for the project, chiefly as a conceptual designer for the over 70 percent of open space the residential complex offers. My aim is to design open spaces that will offer an elegant lifestyle for the people living in Central Park; to make this complex work for them.

The developer wants my design to help them create a green living and also market the residential complex. Well, that’s my responsibility too and I will think in those lines. I think that a good design should be a marketable design, and vice versa and I would strive for, using a variety of techniques, to create beautiful spaces for the people living in Central Park.

The main idea behind Central Park is to create an urban environment that enriches the people living there. Although it would not be at par with other international projects I have undertaken, since the canvas is too small, but it would certainly be a good project and it would be good for what its intent is. We would create a benchmark in real estate development in Nepal with strict adherence to quality.

You were here in Kathmandu back 40 years ago also. Tell us, what kind of changes have you found in the city now from what it was in those days?

I was simply fascinated when I first came here. The mountain were simply breathtaking. It was the end of the 60s. Kathmandu was among few places around the world where people came because they were allowed to be free and do everything they wanted to do.

The first thing about the city that truly set it apart was the number of beautiful squares it was given to. You see, in the west the plazas are just open spaces. But here, it was interesting to me to see an open space that was furnished with splendid temples, rich in both history, architecture and workmanship. This was totally different from western concept of open spaces, and I found it very intriguing.

Similarly, the intensity of life was no where near from what it appears to be now. What do I see now? I think the quality of life seems to have changed. Somehow it was richer back then. There weren’t this many vehicles in the streets, and there were no pollution and smog. It was much quieter then and it had the sort of an exotic quality of that time. It was also less commercialized from what it is today. Although much has changed, Kathmandu is still an intense place to be. It is simply fascinating to see the wonderful people of this city and their way of life. I must say the city has its own beauty, in its own uniqueness and specialty.

Would you say that Kathmandu has become a nightmare, an urban disaster?

The first time I was here I felt Kathmandu was an expanded village, a small town. Now it has become a huge city. I don’t think I want to be so negative as to call Kathmandu an urban disaster, but the city sure needs help. I think it needs to build on its own splendid tradition, rich history and culture. The city’s architecture needs to be raised, more parks and open spaces needs to be built so that it dignifies, exalts the people living in it.

I don’t think I saw any open space in the city. The city should be a series of streets, spaces and parks. They make the city worth living because they enrich the life of people who live in it. But here everything is linear. However, the most interesting part of the city is the people who live in it. They should try to elevate themselves by re-building this city. You are what you build, and you build what you are. So the responsibility falls on the shoulder of the people who live in Kathmandu. Its high time the city authorities get on a public private partnership mode to develop public places -- something like the Garden of Dreams at Thamel. The people of Kathmandu should take up the matter in their own hands and give the city a new lease of life. nepalnews.com Feb 19 09