My name is Hamish Cochrane, and I am a landscape architecture graduate from Victoria University of Wellington, currently in the last few months of writing my thesis. While studying at Victoria I discovered a great interest in how landscape architecture can aid sociality in public spaces, the power that mapping can bring to understanding a landscape, and how built structures and elements can affect sociality through their positioning and their construction details. 

Throughout my thesis I was able to explore these ideas further. I looked into how mapping can help discover the social potential of an undeveloped landscape. By studying other developed landscapes with the same qualities, and analysing the sociality of these spaces, I was able to project potential sociality into an undeveloped landscape. This allowed me to continue developing the site throughout the thesis and explore how positioning details, such as buildings, road ways, parks, paths and seats would affect how people use and engage with the site.

In 2015 I was able to utilise my studying by tutoring second year students in History and theory, and Design Application. This helped me through my own studies by giving me the opportunity to re-familiarise myself with the theory behind landscape architecture. It also helped me in evaluating my own work by showing me a various number of ways that people tackle the same brief, allowing me to reflect on what the best way might be to approach parts of a brief and how that related to my own design style. Tutoring also allowed me to develop how I communicate and teach design ideas to others, which helped me in my own presentations by allowing me to present my design ideas in clear and concise manner.

I also work well in a team. Not only did we have many team projects in university, but I also worked at a supermarket for five years during part of my studies. I worked at the checkouts in a team of about 30, where working as a part of a team was essential to the success of the department. I learnt how to detect problems before they started, and was able to work between different groups and different departments, for example organising people from grocery to assist during busy periods or instructing them on how to fill certain parts of the checkout stock, to further our own department.

Outside of work and study I enjoy watching and playing sports, specifically cricket and the occasional indoor netball game. I enjoy socialising with friends, but also find solitude in doing my own thing.