Kongjian Yu: "When the last Eden is also retreating … where can humans find hope for survival?"

In the most tragic of senses and circumstances, the quote above is a form of epitaph and universal call to action left behind by globally renowned landscape architect and educator Kongjian Yu, 62 years old, as captured when he was engaged in filming a documentary with the working title of Sponge Planet in Brazil.

In deep mourning - the banner appearing on Kongjian Yu’s Turenscape company website. Tu-Ren is two characters in Chinese that together convey the relationship between land and people.

The news of his death on 23 September in a plane crash while exploring the Pantanal wetlands has reverberated around the world.

As highlighted by the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) the profound loss of such a “true visionary” and”influential figure”, who only a fortnight before had been a keynote speaker at the IFLA 2025 World Congress in France on Friday 12 September, is taking a lot to fathom.

As reported in The Guardian Kongjian Yu had been in a back-and-forth to Brazil this year. First for a conference organised by the Council of Architecture and Urbanism in the country’s capital Brasília, where he spoke about the ‘sponge city’ philosophy he has driven forward and will always be known for, and then, most recently, at the opening for the 14th São Paulo International Architecture Biennale (BIAsp) on 19 September. (See his talk here).

On a visit to Brazil in 2024 Kongjian Yu attended a seminar by the Brazilian Development Bank on urban readjustment to mitigate extreme weather events, prompted in part by floods that killed at least 177 people in Rio Grande do Sul. In associated reportage he pointed to the promise that taking an ecological approach in search of solutions holds for achieving more resiliency and sustainability, and for Brazil to aspire to becoming a reference for the world.

Turenscape, the company that Kongyian Lu established in 1998, records the paths he has set and followed into the 21st century and the accumulated recognition.

A lasting tribute. The beautiful illustration is by Oriana Fenwick.

As recorded in an editorial in the South China Morning Post on Monday 29 September there are few landscape architecture practitioners who have had such a “global impact” as Kongjian Yu, and indeed this year he joined the likes of Sir David Attenborough in being selected by Forbes magazine amongst its second world-leading list of 50 people “setting the pace for a just, sustainable economy and defining what climate leadership looks like today”.

Ahead of taking part virtually in the 2022 NZILA Firth Conference, Kongjian Yu stated his belief that landscape architects play an irreplaceable and key role in climate change responses, both by planning and designing climate adaptive cities and rural landscapes, and by implementing nature based solutions for climate mitigation.

In answer to the question ‘Is it too late to save the planet from man-made destruction?’ he had replied ‘”It’s never too late! But we are at the stage of survival crisis. That is why I defined landscape architecture as the art of survival!”

Tuia Pito Ora NZILA and Landscape Architecture Aotearoa join with IFLA’s President Dr Bruno Marques in remembering Kongjian Yu as a “unwavering champion”. It is heartening that the IFLA family has committed to continuing his vital work and ensuring his vision for a ‘Sponge Planet’ endures.

In the wake of the loss of Kongjian Yu, Brazilian journalist, teacher and writer Aida Franco de Lima had some especially compelling words to offer:

“The important thing is that Yu’s legacy has already endured. Every time our cities suffer from floods, someone will remember. There is a path. We must follow it”.

Kongjian Yu’s contributions in the respected journal he founded, Landscape Architecture Frontiers revealed his ever-curious mind, intellect and passions. The August 2025 edition featured his last article - Sponge Planet: Nature-based Infrastructure for Climate Adaptation Beyond Concrete.

See also:

Sponge Planet, Landscape Architecture, IFLA, #Around-the-worldStephen Olsen