Architecture graduate Phumzile Konile believes that she can make the greatest impact in developing regenerative green spaces as a landscape architect. Intent on using her skills in art, design and research to interrogate the relationships people have with the urban environment, she decided to specialise in landscape architecture, and obtained her honours degree in this field in 2022.

Currently enrolled for a master’s degree in landscape architecture at the University of Pretoria (UP), Phumzile believes that the knowledge she has gained in the subjects that make up the architecture and landscape architecture programmes at UP gave her the opportunity to engage with a myriad of issues related to a spatial design project.

She considers the value of her honours degree in landscape architecture to lie more in the journey than in the qualification itself. “My learning experiences have been rich thus far, and I have enjoyed the fact that the courses offered in the Department of Architecture, particularly in the postgraduate programme, are not taught as isolated subjects, but rather as connected parts that make up the whole.” This has given her the courage to engage with all the varied components of landscape architecture.

“My decision to pursue a career in landscape architecture is based on the fact that this field is meeting me where I am at right now in terms of my interests and skills.” She explains that, over the years, she has been drawn to green spaces for a variety of reasons, including the overall health and wellbeing they engender, and the rich sensory experiences that are associated with the outdoors. “This growing interest is reflected in how my academic career has evolved thus far, transitioning from architecture to landscape architecture.” With the growing need for regenerative green spaces, particularly in urban environments, Phumzile sees green spaces as providing the urban dweller with refuge, pause and stillness in an ever more fast-paced and digitally saturated world.

As a human-centred discipline, she believes there is a growing awareness of the need for green spaces, particularly in urban environments, so that residents can gain increased access to food and medicine, improved air quality, and mental and physical wellbeing.

Engaging with a complex society such as South Africa, landscape architects are confronted with many conflicting issues, including those related to political and economic freedom, and access to and ownership of land. As a result, landscape architects trained in South Africa can approach society and intervene in dynamic environments across the world. “Even if I was to work overseas, my qualification from UP will enable me to engage and navigate through a layered context in a way that makes provision for a contextually sensitive and empowering spatial outcome.”

Phumzile would recommend UP’s landscape architecture programme to anyone whose ideals resonate with landscape architecture as a discipline. “I am learning to trust my intuition in approaching and engaging with my work. I would advise prospective students to do the same.”