Phua Chin Eng, the founder, principal, and driving force behind Landart, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture (1996) and a Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning (1992) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Phua has been listed as a corporate member of the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia (ILAM) since 2000.

Before settling in Penang to embark on the developmental journey of establishing Landart in 1998, Phua had spent the early stages of his career as a landscape architect in Singapore. With decades of experience in the industry, Phua uses his expertise and knowledge to lead and guide the team while providing indispensable conceptual ideas in both the planning and design phases.

In consecutive years of 1993, 1994, and 1995, he was awarded the title of Best Designer for Architecture Awards from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. In 1995, he received the First Prize in the International Student Competition for the Ecotourism Project in New Zealand, the Grand Prize in the Institute of Landscape Architects Malaysia Logo Competition, and the Citation Awards in the International Student Competition of the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Together with the members of the Landart team led by Phua, recent awards include the Award of Excellence in Analysis and Master Planning at the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) AAPME Awards, the Excellence Award in Landscape Design in the Professional category, the Excellence Award in Landscape Master Plan and the Project of the Year 2020 at the Malaysian Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA).

Phua was also one of the judges in the Malaysian Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA) competitions. In addition, Phua has been an invited speaker at various webinars and workshops where he shared his experiences with the industry such as DATUM: GREEN 2022, IFLA2020, ILAM Webinar 2020, Young People’s Lab 2020, and World Architecture Festival 2018. Phua was also a founding advisor to the publication Landart Plus, which published the book Southeast Asia Landscape Architect (SEALA) in 2022.