Chinese architect behind 'sponge city' concept dies in Brazil plane crash

Renowned Chinese landscape architect Yu Kongjian, champion of the "sponge city" concept, died in a plane crash in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands while making a film late on Tuesday, Peking University said in an obituary on Thursday.

Yu, 62, dean and founder of Peking University's College of Architecture and Landscape, was the visionary behind China's groundbreaking "sponge city" initiative. His internationally acclaimed concept advocates for urban environments that absorb, clean and reuse rainwater like a sponge, providing a sustainable solution to flooding and water scarcity.

His work, which offered a powerful Chinese model for sustainable urban development, earned him prestigious honors such as landscape architecture's highest award, the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award.

Yu and three other people, the pilot and two local filmmakers, were killed when the aircraft they were traveling in crashed in the Pantanal wetlands.

Professor Yu's passing is an immense loss to Peking University and to the global field of ecological landscape design. He will be profoundly missed, the obituary said.

"We extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, colleagues and students. Our sincere sympathies are also extended to the families of the other victims in this tragedy. May they all rest in peace."

Yu, whose ecological concepts were nurtured by the landscapes of his childhood in Dongyu village, Zhejiang, dedicated his life to realizing a vision of harmony between humanity and nature, it said. A passionate advocate for ecological civilization, he worked tirelessly towards the goal of a "Beautiful China" and the healing of the planet. Shortly before the tragic accident, he was engaged in fieldwork in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands, a vital global ecosystem, reflecting on the urgent need to protect the world's remaining natural sanctuaries, it added.

Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, voiced "sadness and consternation". "During times of climate change, Yu became a global reference for sponge cities, which combine quality of life and environmental protection: something we want — and need — for the future," Lula said in a statement.

In a "message from the dean" published on the college's website, Yu said the increasing tension between humans and land, the relative scarcity of subsistent resources, the energy crisis, the deterioration of ecological environment in both urban and rural area, the dilemma of transportation and living environment and even the challenges brought by global climate change require us to take a new look at the values and methodologies we once adopted in education and practice of architecture, landscape architecture and urban and rural planning.