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Joe is the founding principal of Hapa Collaborative and a contemporary voice for landscape architecture and urban design in Vancouver. Throughout his career, Joe has dedicated himself to deepening the discussion around the economic, societal and environmental values of civic placemaking. Over two decades, he has advocated for these ideals as a member of the Vancouver Advisory Urban Design Panel, the chair of the Richmond Urban Design Panel, a director of the BC Society of Landscape Architects, and as an adjunct professor and advisory board member for UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Joe is a coach, a parent, a volunteer and a committed participant in our City’s discussion about design and the public realm.
Born and raised in northern Ontario, Joseph graduated with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from the University of Guelph in 1994 and immediately settled on the west coast working in Vancouver. He moved to Seattle in 1998 to study with the late Japanese-American landscape architect Robert Murase, developing his technical skills with stone and water features and his appreciation for contemporary Japanese design. In 2009, Joseph established Hapa Collaborative, which has since established itself as a fresh and agile alternative to traditional practice, with a reputation for creativity, innovation and collaboration.
He has been the design lead for many of Hapa’s projects including šxʷƛ̓ ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Foot of Lonsdale Plaza and Shipyards Plaza in North Vancouver, the award-winning Sun Hop Park in Vancouver, Langley’s McBurney Lane revitalization, and Market Lane in London, Ontario.
