ArchitectureNow: Where did your passion for landscape design come from?

Xanthe White: I suspect it was the culmination of a range of experiences from my childhood. My parents were close friends with a group of Elam art students that called themselves the Huia Heavies and used to go for nude mid winter swims at Whatipu. Within this group of friends and our family there was a real interest in conservation as well as art so I grew up with those dialogues around me.

We went to lots of art openings and I even at times ‘modeled’ for sketches when I was a young woman. I loved art at school. The challenge of a problem without a definitive answer and something only attainable through process, there is a lot of that in landscape design. Travel was a big part of my childhood. We lived in America during my early schooling and when we left my parents pulled us out of school to see some of the world. Dad had been a pretty serious mountaineer and my mother was a traveller and writer, so it was this combination of a love of nature and the creative that travelled with us.

From that point on I think I saw the world differently to my school friends. When you travel your world view is set against different horizons. I think my childhood was the seed and then my parents had a close friend Margaret Philllips who introduced me to landscape design. She was working alongside Ted Smyth and Rod Barnett around that time and introduced me to their work as well as her own. She is still one of my favorite designers. A real plantswomen.

ArchitectureNow: How did you get into landscape design?

XW: I got a job through student job search in a little garden and somehow what Margaret had been talking about fell into place. Even though my father is a software designer I’d never taken much interest in computers and really was more interested in art. Design wasn’t something that was mentioned at school much twenty years ago so it took me a while to understand that it could be a career path.

In landscape design you have this wonderful collision point between culture and nature that is quite unique. I love this collision, the tensions and the dialogue between how we value the two and finding ways for people to live comfortably with both. From that point my interest has never wavered. I left university after a year of study and focused everything on landscape design.

I still feel that I’m growing and learning but after twenty years there is a wonderful sense of confidence that I’ve begun to develop and it is always deepening. The brushstrokes that you create with your design get more definitive.  It is the pleasurable depth of knowledge you get from perseverance, love and plenty of hard work.

ArchitectureNow: Tell us about your involvement in the Auckland Garden Designfest and a little about the projects that will be featured in the upcoming event.

XW: This is the second time I have taken part in this project and this garden is as different as the last two we shared. The client is an interior designer with a really strong sense of style so there has been a real dialogue in the design process, yet at the same time she has totally respected the creative process and given me license to show what plants can do.

One of the things I love about this garden is its generosity to the street. I essentially turned the garden inside out to face the sun and the neighborhood. It was a front garden so the space was not going to be used for everyday living (though we have created a small private lawn area), instead the garden engages with the community.

The clients work is really bright and yet sophisticated and the garden is putting that face onto the house. It says “This is a house full of creative energy and a warm family that cares about the community around it.” Before we completed the garden, the wall was frequently graffitied and the space was really mistreated by some passerbys. Since we’ve put the garden in we’ve had no graffiti (touch wood!). I think if people like a space they show it respect. 

ArchitectureNow: You write several columns for the Listener etc, are there plans to extend this and write more for local or overseas publications in the future? Is there another book in the making?

XW: Yes actually I do have another book underway which will be out next year. It’s not about design though; its about dirt! I am passionate about soil and the value it has to us as gardeners and designers but also to the running of our economy. I’m attempting to write a book that expresses the beauty of the ground beneath our feet that is practical but also beautiful. I’m working with my friend Jessie Casson on the photography and we both like looking at things from different angles so hopefully we’ll achieve this!

ArchitectureNow: What are you and your team working on at present?

XW: As well as some great residential projects we also have a couple of projects underway in Taranaki. One is a garden in Pukeiti which I’m very excited about as Pukeiti is one of our oldest gardens with a wonderful history so its wonderful to see it being revitalized to maintain its longstanding relationship with the community.

I am also venturing into a sculptural installation near the ports for the Taranaki Garden festival which is something new for me, though conceptually it’s based around an idea I’ve been exploring for over a decade. We are also working with a couple of schools on masterplans for their landscapes. One is decile 1 and the other decile 10, so it is really interesting to consider the different needs of the different communities.

I would really like to work more in the public domain. I treasure my residential clients but I am also quite socially minded and want to create spaces that are accessible to all. I want my gardens full of people. I think gardens should affect us. They should affect our wellness, our memories and our relationship with place. I would love to do so here but would also be comfortable working overseas.

We often bring in design internationals to work here on some of our most prominent projects such as the entry to Auckland from the airport and the Christchurch memorial and if that is a good thing then I think we should be just as confident and comfortable sharing our work and world view with other communities. In fact we should be putting ourselves forward in the international design community and advocating for our particular flavor of design.

ArchitectureNow: What is the best thing about what you do?

XW: I consider myself an advocate for a greener world. Putting plants before concrete and the comfort of green. I understand that people need other comforts as well and enjoy designing those but I think beauty through good design can be the best advocate for people wanting nature close to them.

Writing, exhibiting, designing, talking; all these methods of communication are an opportunity to let people choose to have more wilderness in their lives. I’m not about imposing, which is why I believe in custom design where people can have the relationship be it tame or wild, romantic or efficient, that they want. I believe in tailoring nature to the wearer. 

ArchitectureNow: What type of garden do you have at your own home?

XW: Shall we say my relationship with nature is pretty wild as I’m very comfortable with it. We have also just rebuilt our home so there are changes to the garden to follow (as we can afford them), but I will never have a very controlled garden. I love green, layers and wildness as well as a garden that belongs to the whole of the family. 

See here for more gardens by Xanthe White Design. The Auckland Garden Designfest takes place 14 - 15 November, 2015. More details on the exhibition here.