Matt Chu

Originally trained as an environmental engineer in Taiwan, Matt Chu received his master’s degree in landscape architecture and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania. Since then, he has practiced landscape architecture and urban design over 25 years in the US, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Currently he is the associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan.  

Matt Chu is a United States registered landscape architect and has worked in the US for over ten years with the world-renowned landscape architecture and urban design firm Olin Partnership (Now OLIN). He led and participated in award-winning projects, such as Washington Monument Ground in Washington, D.C., Columbus Circle in New York City, Mill River and Greenway in Stamford, Connecticut, and Mission Bay in San Francisco. 

In 2008, Matt Chu joined AECOM and was based in Beijing; from 2014 in Hong Kong. For projects in Greater China, Mr. Chu focuses on public open spaces. He is pushing for implementing ‘Landscape Urbanism’ that landscape architecture should be the common ground to bring the city together, to create a landscape city and well-balanced environment between contemporary insertion and natural landscape. This vision led to the winning of the UKLI Award in 2013 the AIA International Region Design Award and the AIA Hong Kong Award in 2014 for Datong Wenying Lake Park. The most recent honor for this project is the IFLA APPME Design by Resilience Outstanding Award in 2018. Besides the Wenying Lake Park, he has other award-winning projects, such as Wolong Lake Wetland Park in Shenyang, China, the Pacific Century Center in Beijing, China, and the Yanqi Lake convention Center in Beijing, China.  

In 2020, Mr. Chu went back to Taiwan and founded a landscape architecture practice named SCAPE PLUS. This six-people studio focuses on both the public open space as well as public art in Taiwan. Mr. Chu’s most recent open space project is the landscape trail design along the Taoyuan Irrigation Channel, Taiwan. He believes in infrastructure-oriented development, the landscape is not only the first impression of the city, but also the ultimate appearance that connects within. It is the interface between the infrastructure and the living environment; it is the living infrastructure.  

In the following year, Mr. Chu started teaching in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chungyuan Christian University and later in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the Chinese Culture University and in the Architecture Program at the Shih-Chien University. The philosophy and the theory that he uses in practice are also the foundation he brings to the students. He also joined the Chinese Taiwan Landscape Architects Society and representing Taiwan as the delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects.