Waterwire: In Memoriam: Kongjian Yu

On September 30, 2025, the Waterfront Alliance published an article in memoriam of Professor Kongjian Yu, a renowned Chinese landscape architect, Dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, and founder of the design firm Turenscape. He pioneered the "sponge city" concept, advocating for the use of nature's water absorption and filtration capabilities instead of traditional concrete drainage systems. This approach has significantly influenced urban ecological design and flood management policies in China and globally. At the 2025 Waterfront Alliance Annual Conference, Professor Kongjian Yu was invited as the Heather M. Morgan Climate Risk Adaptation Lecturer. His keynote address emphasized the concept of "living with water," urging a global reevaluation of the relationship between water and cities. Professor Kongjian Yu's passing is a profound loss to the global landscape architecture community. However, his ideas and practices will continue to impact the world through the landscapes he shaped, the students he mentored, and the ecological design movement he inspired.

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Source: https://waterfrontalliance.org/2025/09/30/in-memoriam-kongjian-yu/