These urban design solutions might save us (and our cities) from climate change, but only if they can overcome the numerous obstacles that stand in the way.

From the Pritzker Architecture Prize to the RIBA Stirling Prize. A roundup of projects and designers that won the most authoritative international awards

The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum Award winner talks to METROPOLIS about our changing planet, his “Sponge City” concept, and nature-based solutions to urban planning.

Kongjian Yu—the distinguished landscape architect renowned for his ecologically sound and culturally resonant designs—has been honored as the 2023 recipient of the Oberlander Prize for Landscape Architecture.

Three Landscapes - Zhongshan Shipyard Park, Red Ribbon Park and Benjakitti Forest Park, designed by Kongjian Yu, the 2023 Oberlander Prize Laureate.

Modern challenges such as floods, rising global temperatures and water shortages can be mitigated with a holistic but revolutionary approach – turning the planet into a sponge, a strategy that is already being deployed in more than 250 cities.

Peking University professor Kongjian Yu says sponge city is a model based on the regulation of stormwater adaptation to the monsoon.

Beijing-based landscape architect Kongjian Yu has been announced by the Cultural Landscape Foundation as the recipient of the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize (“Oberlander Prize”).

Designer Kongjian Yu’s sponge city concept is saving cities from too much rain. He just won the field’s biggest prize for his work.