Making Their Mark: John Goldwyn

Long before lockdown, WATG and Wimberly Interiors’ global network of designers, makers and creators have looked beyond their every day to inspire ideas and innovations. In this new series, Making Their Mark, we shine a spotlight on our team members and creative associates, and the passion projects they pursue outside of 9–5 – not only for their personal mental health, well-being and growth, but for the benefit of their clients, projects and colleagues. Fostering a spirit of creativity, innovation, individualism and imagination among our ohana (family) has been central to our firm since its founding seventy-five years ago, and we are proud to support one another not only at work, but externally as well.

In the latest interview of the series, we speak with John Goldwyn – Senior Vice President and Director of our Planning and Landscape studio at WATG London. A passionate advocate of guerrilla greening in our urban centres and a champion of making the world more environmentally resilient, John recently rediscovered his love of gardening and took it one step further by creating his very own living wall for his home in London.

John, tell us a little bit about your career and what a ‘normal’ day looks like for you.

Before lockdown I was leading a talented and creative team of landscape architects and urbanists. After lockdown I am leading a team of talented and creative landscape architects and urbanists who have learned to collaborate in totally new and exciting ways whilst retaining their design integrity.

In isolation we’ve been forced to find new outlets for entertainment and inspiration. Talk us through your side project(s). What is it and how did it begin?

I love plants and nature. I also believe in the important connection that we have with nature via biophilia. Green walls are a great way of bringing this philosophy into tight urban sites… I  often dream big with vegetated buildings in our projects. I thought it would be great to have one at home, and so I set about making it happen.  (You can watch its installation here.)

Have you found this new creative process to be cathartic or challenging? Has anything about it surprised you?

It was effortless to install, but rather a lot of thought went into the process. And it has turned out beautifully! I am very proud of my green wall.

How has being creative outside of work positively impacted your outcomes at work?

I like to think that I am creative at work too! I think it’s important to live our lives in a way that start to address the way that we want our world to be. You can read more of my thoughts on this here, in a piece I recently wrote on resilience, self-reliance and sustainability.

Tell us a little bit about a maker or creator who has inspired you, and why.

I am really inspired by my friend Phil Taylor of Libertine Bicycles who makes beautiful hand-built frames for a few special people only. Everything he does or touches is perfection! The opposite of me.

You can follow John, and the progress of his living wall, here on LinkedIn.