Michael Balston

       附: Michael Balston的簡介（英文版）

　　Michael Balston MA, Dip Arch, LA, RIBA, ALI

　　Michael Balston studied architecture at Cambridge University, qualifying as an architect in the early 1970s. He then qualified further as a landscape architect and worked for Robert Mathew Johnson-Marshall & Partners on several public buildings projects in the UK and Saudi Arabia. In 1978, he joined Arabella Lennox-Boyd to focus on private gardens and increase his knowledge of horticulture. Since moving to Wiltshire in 1983, he has run his own practice, operating from converted farm buildings within a large garden that he has created from scratch.

　　For over 20 years, the practice, Balston & Company, has developed significant experience in most aspects of landscape design and management. The core garden projects continue, ranging from roof gardens to large estates. There is also a substantial portfolio of prominent urban design projects, including housing rehabilitation, office landscapes and public open spaces. Garden furniture design and production also continues to be an important activity. The emphasis on good horticulture, combined with wide-ranging architectural experience, helps to produce imaginative and stimulating contemporary pieces. The company makes extensive use of computer techniques to explore design possibilities and provide fully illustrated and specified solutions. Winning the RHS Best Garden award at the 1999 Chelsea Flower Show for his design for The Daily Telegraph Reflective Garden was an important milestone in Michael Balston's attempts to make use of sophisticated engineering techniques and materials in gardens. For two decades, he has won medals at national and international shows; he was also responsible for the highly successful British exhibit at the quinquennial Floralies at Ghent 2000. He designed the RHS Bicentenary Exhibit for the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show and in 2006 a spectacular exhibit demonstrating roof and wall planting for the Singapore Garden Festival.

　　The gardens created at his own home in Wiltshire are his working laboratory, which have been widely featured in the gardening press. Besides writing for magazines, Michael Balston has written the influential book The Well Furnished Garden. More recently Ten Landscapes - Michael Balston edited by James Grayson Trulove featured his design work. He is much involved with The Royal Horticultural Society shows as a judge and member of Council and Chairman of the Chelsea Gardens Panel. He is also on the Gardens Committee and the Shows Committee. Returning to his architectural roots, he has completed a four year term as the UK judge on the Europa Nostra Heritage Awards panel and is now a member of the Europa Nostra Landscape Working Group.

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