Dr. Kongjian Yu will give Lecture in University of Melbourne

Time: May 30th,2006 Address: University of Melbourne,Australia Theme: Internationality and Identity: Towards Modern Chinese Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Who: Dr .Kongjian Yu Dean, The Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, Peking University President, Turenscape 　　Dr Kongjian Yu got his Doctor of Design Degree at The Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1995. He is the founder and dean of the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture at Peking University, and the founder and president of Turenscape, which is an internationally awarded firm with more than 200 professionals and is one of the first and largest private landscape architecture firms in China. 　　Dr Yu has practiced actively and has been awarded four ASLA Honor Awards in 2002 and 2005, and 2006 respectively by the American Society of Landscape Architecture. 　　Dr Yu is also the winner of the National Gold Medal of Fine Arts (2004, the Cultural Ministry, China), twice winner of the Human Habitat Model Award for designed projects (2002, 2005, the Construction Ministry, China). In 2004, he was awarded Oversea Chinese Pioneer Achievement Medal by the Chinese central government for my overall contribution to the nation. 　　Dr Yu has published widely, including more than 150 papers and 15 books. His major research interests include: the theory and method of landscape architecture and urban planning; the cultural aspect of landscape; landscape security patterns and ecological infrastructure. Lecture Abstract: 　　Urbanization, globalization and the spread of materialism have positioned landscape architecture to critically address three major challenges in the coming decades. With this big picture in mind, the issue of internationality and identity in Chinese contemporary landscape architecture and urban design were brought about. 　　The first challenge is the survival of humanity on the earth. More than ever, large parts of population are exposed to disastrous natural forces, pollution and shortage of resources, as were demonstrated by the catastrophes of the Tsunami in South East Asia, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and numerous floods each year all over the world. Two thirds of the 662 Chinese cities are in shortage of water, all rivers in the urban and suburban areas are polluted.Taking land as a medium, landscape architecture is given the great opportunities within this crucial period of time to find ways of rebuilding a harmonious relationship between the land and people. 　　The second is about cultural identity. The strength of LA in dealing with this issue lies in its intrinsic association with the natural systems and in its roots of agricultural tradition. Urbanization and globalization processes are so fast and overwhelming, therefore a “negative approach” should be taken against the conventional development planning, i.e. landscape architects and planners should lead the way to identify and design an ecological infrastructure that is critical in safeguarding the ecological processes and cultural heritages, before the stage of land development planning. 　　The third is the protection and rebuild of our spiritual homeland. The trend of materialism has been taking over the world and also China. The land which used to be inhabited by various spirits that made the landscape meaningful and poetic is becoming commercialized. Gradually, we lose our spiritual connections to our land towards superficial, exchangeable international images of the world beyond the earthly one, which landscape architecture is positioned to protect and rebuild. 　　Four award winning contemporary designs will be presented in detail to illustrate the author’s thinking about internationality and identity, including the Zhongshan Shipyard Park, the Rice Campus of Shenyang Architecture University, the Floating Gardens of Yongning River Park, and the Negative Approach to Urban Development in Taizhou City.