What does it take to become a waterscape architect?

In the eyes of many people, aquatic plant landscapers are more often a fish seller. After so many years, many people's ideas have not changed. However, we only need a pair of tweezers and a brush, and we can always create fascinating scenery in the grass tank with our dexterous hands.

Just like a pianist dancing his hands briskly on the black and white keys, and a dancer moving her body to express the emotions in her heart, as aquatic plant landscapers, we use our hands to interpret the natural scenery in our hearts.

Many aquatic plants and landscapers always give people the appearance of artists when outsiders first come into contact with them. However, the truth is often not so beautiful. Behind the glamor, there are many invisible hardships. What you see is the bright and clean waterscape in the aquarium shop, but what you can’t see is the huge amount of maintenance effort and expense the shop owner has put into it. ?

Generally speaking, any aquatic plant landscaper will have his or her own aquarium shop. After all, it is difficult for most landscapers to support themselves just by creating landscaping for others, and they also need to sell equipment as a supplement. . Or work as a consultant in a well-known domestic chain of waterscape stores.

The aquatic plant landscaping industry started from scratch

The aquatic plant landscaping industry in mainland China started relatively late. Even compared to Taiwan, there is a gap of more than ten years. When Taiwan While Hong Kong's aquatic plant landscaping industry is relatively mature, the mainland's aquatic plant landscaping industry can only be said to have just sprouted. We have gone through too many twists and turns and experienced too many difficulties. Many of the people who are able to persevere now are people who truly love aquatic plants. They want to promote this art and let more people understand and appreciate aquatic plants. The inherent beauty of landscaping.

Let’s first talk about the aspect of landscaping for others. There are only two points that need to be paid attention to:

First, the level of landscaping must be high, that is, the landscaper’s personal quality. The level of landscaping is partly talent, and more requires a lot of practice. It is what is called "opening the cylinder" in the industry. Different tanks have different landscaping styles. As a new landscaper, it is impossible to reach a high level without opening more than a dozen tanks. Just looking at the landscaping pictures on forums and public accounts is simply not enough. You won’t know what kind of problems you will encounter when working with different styles and materials, and how to solve them at the same time. These require a lot of practice to acquire. Moreover, if you want to receive some big orders, you must have a certain reputation in the industry, such as placing XX in a certain competition. Without these honors, it will be difficult to get recognition from Party A, no matter how superb your skills are.

Second, it is market demand. I personally think that in the current market environment, a large number of people do not agree with the term "landscape fee". Of course, some people in first-tier cities may agree. And I feel that more people will recognize it. But it takes time. Just like home decoration designers, they are now able to pay for home decoration design.

Insist on aquatic plant landscaping design

"Many times we do not do it to make money. A high-quality aquatic plant landscaping tank often takes several months or even more than a year to complete. The labor costs during breeding and maintenance are really unimaginable, and many times we are even operating at a loss.” This is the sentiment of many aquatic plants and landscaping practitioners, and it can even be said to be the norm. After a landscaping competition is held, many consumers are obsessed with the beautiful scenery and neglect the producers behind each work. They spend a lot of time and energy to create such a work that is difficult to measure in terms of money. . Although equipment can be measured by price, waterscape art is the ultimate treasure.

“If someone who loves aquatic plants makes a aquatic landscaping tank for you, then this is your luck. Today, the market is filled with many people who pretend to be aquatic plants and landscaping engineers. They often What we see is the profit, but we ignore the inner nature of the aquatic plant landscaping. If you are considering buying an aquatic plant landscaping tank, please keep in mind that the value and price of the aquatic plant landscaping are closely related. A beautiful aquatic plant garden. The landscape is worth paying a lot of money for.

Let’s talk about the aquatic plant store.

If you want to open an aquarium store, you need to consider the landscaping carefully. There is a lot of knowledge in the material channel, and the quality of the materials will be much worse at the same price. Moreover, there are many problems that need to be handled by the store owner himself.

To work in an aquarium shop, you must be able to connect wires, decorate, and unload goods, and you must also have some knowledge of pharmacology and chemistry. Of course, if you can overcome these, it will indeed be very challenging.

? To sum up, it is personal ability and market demand. A friend once told me: out of a hundred people, only ten people play aquaculture, and among these ten people, only one plays aquaculture. After all, it is a niche market. The players have done it themselves, do they still need you? And those who don’t care about aquariums must not be able to take good care of the fish tanks. This requires the aquascaper to not only create the landscape, but also maintain it. There is another problem with maintenance. How to calculate the various expenses incurred? Time costs, labor costs, etc., and now there are even fewer people willing to pay for maintenance.

Aquarium has passed the era of huge profits

If you really plan to be a full-time landscaper, the best situation is to do it for fun. If it is just a whim to follow the trend, When hobby becomes work, maybe this hobby will no longer exist.

Finally, I would like to thank every landscaping designer for persisting in bringing beauty into thousands of homes. At the same time, I also hope that this industry will gradually become formalized, and that everyone who loves aquariums will have clear water and beautiful fish in their tanks.

The daily life of an aquatic plant landscaper

Speaking of which, the daily work of an aquatic plant landscaper is not as pleasant as people imagine. It involves moving rocks, sawing wood, and even mixing cement. Landscaping is a common occurrence. Friends often say that working in the aquascaping industry for two years is more effective than going to the gym for two years.

The development of the industry is difficult

Many aquatic plants and landscapers have loved aquatic plants and things in nature since childhood. When the aquatic plants and landscaping industry enters the mainland, they will naturally choose to engage in such an emerging industry. However, the current aquatic plants and landscaping industry is full of difficulties. Many people are facing huge pressure and are still going it alone. High rents and rising costs year by year have made it difficult for many landscapers who originally made a living through artistic landscaping. A good aquatic plant landscaping work is not only about the early production, but also the later maintenance is even more important. Nowadays, such a niche industry is more often driven forward by these aquatic plants and landscapers who insist on being on the front line.

Because "aquatic plant landscaper" is an emerging profession in China, and is different from ordinary enthusiasts and individual aquarium shop owners, most of the domestic masters who are truly qualified to be called "aquatic plant landscaper" are concentrated in CAA (China Landscaping Architects Alliance).

There are also various situations among CAA landscapers:

Some members, such as Wang Chao, the top landscaper in China, have good jobs and a lot of income, and they are not good at landscaping. It's a hobby, and I can earn pocket money by participating in some competitions in my spare time (the second place prize in last year's ADA Landscaping Competition was 300,000 yuan...) In addition, I strongly recommend Wang Chao's book "Aquatic Plant Landscaping: From Beginner to Mastery" ", according to @yeastYeast, it has now been used as one of the textbooks for related majors in colleges and universities. Some members serve as executives of well-known domestic aquarium companies, such as Yang Yufan, the executive director and art director of Pyrotechnics.

Most members will set up their own waterscape studios and develop aquatic plant landscaping as their own business, because their strength and the popularity brought by winning international competitions are enough to support their careers. (Two days ago, I was surprised to find that @陈伟大, who ranked 18th in the world in the 2016 ADA Landscaping Competition, is also on Zhihu. He is the person in charge of Senyun Waterscape. You can also ask him) There are also masters who started earlier such as Zou Wei Xin, the person in charge of Hong Kong Shuimu Linsen Company, has become a partner of ADA and is active on the jury of major landscaping competitions all year round. You can see him appearing in the ADA product catalog on behalf of Chinese landscaping designers.

Isn’t it wonderful? Do you feel like you can marry Bai Fumei, become CEO, and reach the pinnacle of your life as soon as you become an aquatic plant landscaper? But I would like to solemnly remind you: the reality is cruel. The above-mentioned people are all elites at the top of the industry, a small group of people at the top of the pyramid.

If you have a hobby in landscaping and want to find a job as a landscaping engineer, the reality is not optimistic.

According to the information previously posted on the recruitment website (recruitment has stopped now), the salary package for professional landscapers offered by large waterscape stores in Beijing is 3,000-5,000 yuan per month (sales commission may be included), and you are required to have rich experience, this salary is a bit shabby compared to your efforts. This is still in the first-tier cities in China where there are large waterscape shops. In other smaller cities, the waterscape shops and waterscape studios are smaller and may not provide landscaper positions (the shop owners and persons in charge can handle the landscaping themselves. ), what they need is actually sales.

Therefore, the embarrassment faced by "Aquatic Plant Landscaping Engineer" is somewhat similar to that of "Interior Designer". First of all, it is not a nationally recognized professional title that can obtain relevant certificates and gain general social recognition (different from practicing doctors, Lawyers, accountants, etc.), the level of practitioners who call themselves "landscapers" also varies; secondly, it is not as rigid as residential interior design and decoration, and aquatic plants and landscaping tanks are at best decorations for life. Except for enthusiasts with money and leisure, Few people will continue to invest in it, and the market is not very big; thirdly, with the current aesthetic quality of our people, there are still relatively few people who know how to appreciate aquatic landscaping and understand its creative concepts and costs. Most people just think that It’s good-looking and only lasts for three minutes. Therefore, as a landscape architect, the value of the works you put in physical and mental work to create has a huge gap between the eyes of potential customers and your own eyes. This is also the current non-famous and non-practical art work in China. It’s the same dilemma faced by readers. However, the good news is that as the living standards and quality of citizens of our country gradually improve, the overall environment is developing for the better.

The above is my understanding of the domestic landscaping market. The aquarium market in foreign developed countries such as Japan, Europe and the United States is relatively mature and has formed an industrial chain with healthy development.

Becoming an aquatic plant landscaper requires mastering a lot of comprehensive knowledge. In addition, it also requires care, patience, perseverance, and a lot of time. I would like to advise everyone that it is the same with any profession. If you want to do well, you must think clearly first. Don’t think that you can play and make money. No job is as simple as you think.

Finally, please finish this bowl of chicken soup: no matter what the reality is, it is not wrong to pursue your dreams when survival is safe, come on!