Five minutes with Joshua
Joshua Woo’s passion for urban design started as a child when he’d spend time playing video games designing theme parks.
Fast forward a couple of decades and that seed has flourished into a career in urban design than spans two countries and crosses cultures.
Joshua shares some of his passion and the inspiration that drives his interest in urban design and that path that has brought him from Singapore to Adelaide.
What ignited your passion for a career as an urban designer?
It all started when I was a child. I remember being hooked on a theme-park building game which involved laying out the different buildings, rides and public squares, linking them through a series of footpaths and providing amenity through landscaping and such. At that time I really wanted to be a theme park designer!
Later in life, and with more experience and knowledge under my belt, I discovered urban design which involves similar responsibilities but for real life neighbourhoods, towns and cities. It was a perfect match.
With a diverse background, what brought you to Adelaide?
I spent most of my childhood growing up in Singapore, but my family has roots in Sydney going back to my grandparents.
With an established interest in urban design, the University of New South Wales has the most established planning course in the country, so it was no brainer for me to enrol and migrate to Australia.
I had a great time in Sydney and even got the chance to work at a leading architecture firm. However, I was after a new challenge and the role at Jensen PLUS caught my eye. Adelaide’s reputation for being a liveable city definitely had some sway on me too.
What project would you consider to be career highlight so far?
In my previous role, I worked on a transformative, long term strategic plan for a major city in Malaysia. This included on the ground stakeholder engagement (as well as savouring the local sights, sounds and delicious cuisine).
It perfectly summed up what I love about practicing urban design — having to immerse yourself in new places, being humble to learn from local practitioners, while at the same time bringing in professional advice informed by theory and best practice.
It was also a thrill to work in a context that was adjacent to my own culture.
What do you consider to be the most valuable qualities that you bring to the Jensen PLUS team and our clients?
Observational, analytical and communication skills. I am a firm believer in data-driven design and so I am always working to gather and make sense of visual observations, statistics, or spatial information.
I then aspire to communicate our findings and recommendations in a compelling and engaging way, through written words or eye-catching graphics.
Meaningful client and community engagement is a vital component of delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients. How do you support these essential activities as part of your projects?
Active listening during engagement activities like co-design workshops or community pop-up sessions is key to developing a deep understanding of the needs and expectations of stakeholders and communities, and also to gather important local knowledge and information.
This usually involves asking follow-up questions about the issue at hand, which results in more of a two-way dialogue and a deeper understanding of their level of support or concern over a certain idea.
Where do you draw your professional inspiration from?
Probably the most from Jan Gehl, who is one of the pioneers of a people-centric approach to design in the built environment.
Focusing not merely on the physical structures but also activities happening within public spaces, I have adapted some of his public life analysis techniques for our work here at Jensen PLUS.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
We have a great team here at Jensen PLUS, full of different characters whom I enjoy working with.
More broadly, I enjoy the sheer variety of contexts and scales we get to work within, from single main street designs to growth frameworks for entire towns.
What are you feeling most inspired about for the next few years?
I am inspired by the fact that more people are becoming conscious of how important good planning and design is needed to tackle the key issues of our generation — climate change, the housing crisis, and social issues such as loneliness being some of the core challenges we as planners and designers can have a positive impact on.
How do you enjoy your weekends?
You can usually find me at church where I am passionate about sharing the good news of Jesus with others.
Otherwise, you might find me struggling up a rock face in the Adelaide Hills on my weekly Saturday morning climbing session.
