IVE LAB: Thirty Years of Counter-Flows and Search for Deep Form

Kongjian Yu is a leading landscape architect in China. He grew up in a small village in South China during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Today, he draw on his rural upbringing for insights in working with earth and water. By integrating this foundational experience with advanced contemporary sciences and design aesthetics, he has emerged as a pioneering figure in innovative design practice. Yu will describe experimental projects addressing challenges arising from China’s rapid industrialization and urbanization, including efforts to protect and restore both urban and rural ecologies through his concepts of Sponge City and Negative Planning. His professional and academic pursuits reflect a significant narrative of counter-currents and leading the tides, mirroring the dramatic transformations that have characterized China over the past 60 years.

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Source: https://berkeleyriverlab.org/2025/03/thirty-years-of-counter-flows-and-search-for-deep-form/