Interview with Kopje Qiu, Co-Founder & Project Director of GND Design Limited, China

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Kopje Qiu

Qiu is the co-founder of GND Design Limited, where his human-oriented design philosophy and culture-centered thinking leads him and his team to creating a series of landscape spaces that can withstand the test of time!



Interview with the 2020 MUSE Design Awards Winner - Kopje Qiu

1Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your background.

Mr. Kopje Qiu graduated from South China Agricultural University, founder of GND design brand, and registered architect of ASLA in the United States. After more than ten years of landscape design, he worked as the head of the landscape department of Vanke Real Estate (Shenzhen Company) and hosted more than 40 landing projects.

Mr. Kopje is a rare designer who is not only familiar with project development and also has strong research and development capabilities. No matter from the design orientation of the previous period to the landing of the final project, or from the completion of the design to the progress control of the construction, he has considerable skills and experience to cope with. Adhering to the ""human-oriented"" design philosophy and emphasizing the culture-centered thinking, he leads the team to create a series of landscape spaces full of human care and withstand the test of time. Mr. Kopje has won many honors in China and other countries, including MUSE Design Awards (USA), A'Design Award (Italy), iF Design Awrd (Germany), Outstanding Property Award (London), CREDAWARD (China Real Estate Design Competition) and Golden Bund Award (China).

2Tell us more about your business/company, job profile, and what you do.

Over the years, GND Landscape has created a series of outstanding design works in the field of landscape space construction, landscape product development, scenic research, and full-cycle landscape planning, which not only won widespread praise from partners with unique design concepts and rich cultural connotations, but also gave life to the environment with careful research on details and accurate understanding of space, creating a harmonious urban environment and a warm community living atmosphere, carrying the memories of residents' growth and bursting out a high degree of emotional resonance.

We provide the best design solutions to our clients with rigorous design logic and professional integration of landscape support capabilities, and are committed to becoming an urban support provider in the landscape industry. On the basis of this, we will develop an exclusive landscape productization study to help clients establish the project management operation and product system of landscape design. Main business: landscape design (residential, exhibition, educational, urban renewal, hotel landscape, etc.), landscape product customization, full cycle landscape planning.

3What does “design” mean to you?

We are not only landscape architects, but also space creators, scene planners, and life experiencers.

4What’s your favorite kind of design and why?

The design that conveys humanistic care. Because they use space to interpret the aesthetics of life.

5To you, what makes a “good” design?

A good design needs to balance customer demands and user needs; inherit regional culture, coexist with the city and bear the community life.

6Describe your design style and its main characteristics.

The design starts from both functional and emotional basis, inheriting traditional Chinese layout in space planning and using modern classic design elements in style.

7Tell us about your design process.

On-Site Survey - Survey Analysis - Conceptual Design - Scheme Design – Design Optimization - Construction Drawing Design - Construction Drawing Budgeting - Design Delivery – On-Site Coordination – Customer Tracking Analysis

8Do you think your country and its cultural heritage has an impact on your design process?

Yes, it does. The Vanke Hill City landscape design draws on the traditional courtyard gardening model to create a dignified home space experience with a five-layer spatial plan that emphasizes the depth of the view, invoking a sense of spatial rhythm and creating a comfortable living experience.

9Congratulations! As the winner of the 2020 MUSE Design Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?

We are very honored and thrilled that GND's design has been highly recognized by the organizing committee of the well-known international awards.

10Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2020 MUSE Design Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?

At the beginning of the project design, the R&D department, in addition to its own extreme research and development, conducted multi-dimensional, high-frequency user demand research and interviews through a variety of channels to reach out to the customer base to get a more integrated and diverse sample of life. Using data as a basis for design, a humanistic community is designed to meet the needs of residents' lives and to carry memories of growth.

The design of the project is based on a holistic grasp, extending the core design concept, penetrating into the space with modern classic design and refined quality, making the design concept and customer needs perfectly realized, forming a space language of great humanistic care and presenting a new community living experience.

With all of our efforts, to be recognized by others is exactly what we need for us to design next extinguished work. So, here we are with Muse.

11What was the biggest challenge with this project?

The biggest challenge is to translate the client's needs into spatial design, starting from the three aspects of breadth, depth and humanistic care, such as indoor and outdoor space linkage, drainage of event venues, home boulevard path, etc.

12How has winning an Award developed your practice/career?



The award allows the company to showcase the power of Chinese design on the world stage and brings a new dimension to the brand's history.

13What makes your country specifically, unique in the design industry?

Internationalize and modernize the regional culture. Exploring the balance between traditional civilizations and contemporary construction, and building pluralistic and open spaces to better integrate them into contemporary life.

14If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring MUSE Design Awards submitter, what advice would you give them?

In the context of this Internet era, it is not just about the design itself that needs to be focused on, it is about opening up the horizons and breaking the boundaries.



Winning Entries

Vanke Hill City | 2020

Interview with Kopje Qiu, Co-Founder & Project Director of GND Design Limited, China

This project, located at the foot of the Yinhu Hill, is a low-density residence community of unique natural ecological resources. Developed by...
(read more at MUSE Design Awards)

Vanke · Hakka Culture Exhibition Plaza | 2020

Interview with Kopje Qiu, Co-Founder & Project Director of GND Design Limited, China

This case is a landscape renovation project that connects the Hakka Ancestral Hall with the commercial district. In the...
(read more at MUSE Design Awards)

GND Design Limited


GND Design Limited is a interior design firm that specializes in four major sections: landscape design, landscape soft decoration design and practice, interior design, and interior soft decoration design and space.


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