Kongjian Yu, the renowned Chinese landscape architect and pioneer of the "sponge city" concept, has died in a plane crash in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands, sending shockwaves through the global architecture and urbanism communities. Yu, aged 62, was traveling with three others—two Brazilian filmmakers and a local pilot—when their single-engine Cessna aircraft crashed on the afternoon of September 23, 2025, near a remote ranch in Mato Grosso do Sul state. All four on board perished in the accident, which occurred as the group was en route to Fazenda Barra Mansa, a famous riverside hacienda in Brazil’s vast and biodiverse Pantanal region, according to Reuters and Folha de Campo Grande.
The two filmmakers, Luiz Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Junior, were working on a documentary titled Planeta Esponja (Planet Sponge), inspired by Yu’s groundbreaking approach to urban water management. Local authorities, including police chief Ana Cláudia Medina, confirmed the crash and noted that officers had been dispatched to the remote site to investigate the cause, which initial reports suggest involved an aborted landing attempt followed by a sudden loss of altitude and an immediate explosion on impact.
Yu’s journey to Brazil was part of a broader mission: he had recently participated in the São Paulo International Architecture Biennial and a conference in Brasília, where he spoke about his signature “sponge city” philosophy. The event marked the 65th anniversary of Brazil’s futuristic capital, designed by Oscar Niemeyer and Lúcio Costa. Patrícia Sarquis Herden, president of Brazil’s Council of Architecture and Urbanism, emphasized the importance of Yu’s participation, saying, “Bringing specialists such as Kongjian Yu is crucial so we can reflect on innovative solutions that can be applied to Brazilian cities, especially when it comes to urban sustainability and resilience, as well as learning from other cultures.”
Yu’s “sponge city” idea has transformed how cities worldwide confront the increasing threat of climate change and urban flooding. Rejecting the 20th-century reliance on concrete, pipes, and drains to force stormwater away, he advocated for green infrastructure—restoring wetlands, reshaping roads, and creating parks and reservoirs—so that urban environments could absorb and recycle water like a sponge. As Yu himself explained in a September 2024 interview with Monocle Radio, his vision was rooted in his rural childhood in Zhejiang Province, China, where he witnessed the natural resilience of vegetated rivers during monsoon floods. “I don’t remember the water being so dangerous compared to today,” Yu recalled. “The river was fully covered with vegetation—willows, reeds, all kinds of plants. Now rivers are channelized, concreted. Floods are far more dangerous.”
Yu’s persistence and innovative thinking eventually shifted policy at the highest levels in China. He published his first formal proposals for sponge cities in 2003, and by 2013, China’s president Xi Jinping and the National People’s Congress had officially embraced the model. By 2015, 60 Chinese metropolises had been designated as pilots for the program, requiring new construction to follow sponge city principles. “All of these places are now required to build with the sponge-city model in mind,” Yu said, describing it as a “systematic transformation.”
His influence was not limited to China. Yu was eager to highlight how the sponge city concept had spread internationally, pointing to Bangkok’s Benjakitti Forest Park—a former tobacco factory site transformed into a landscape capable of holding a million cubic meters of stormwater—as well as projects in Pakistan, Mexico, and Brazil itself. “But we need more than just sponge cities—we need a sponge planet,” he remarked, underscoring the global urgency of adapting to extreme weather events.
Yu’s academic and professional credentials were formidable. After earning his degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, he established the department of landscape architecture at Peking University and founded Turenscape in 1998. Under his leadership, Turenscape became one of China’s largest and most influential landscape architecture firms, with projects spanning hundreds of cities in China and extending to Asia, France, Russia, and the United States. Notably, Turenscape designed Chinatown Park in Boston (2007) and Hing Hay Park in Seattle (2018), both celebrated for their innovative public green spaces.
Recognition for Yu’s work was widespread. In 2023, he received the prestigious Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize from The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). TCLF president Charles Birnbaum praised Yu’s impact, stating, “Thanks to his unceasing efforts, the ‘sponge cities’ concept was adopted as national policy in China. Leading by example he unequivocally demonstrated how a landscape architect can change the way a major country sees and acts, and inspired a global movement.” Earlier this month, Turenscape received an Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for Fish Tail Park in Nanchang City, China—a “floating forest” that transformed a degraded 126-acre floodplain into an urban wetland managing stormwater and restoring natural habitats. The ASLA judges hailed it as a “template for other cities seeking to resuscitate blighted waterfront landscapes.”
Yu’s work was always rooted in a deep respect for nature and the wisdom of traditional water management systems. He often invoked the need to “make friends with water,” and in a recent interview with Architectural Record, he stressed that “landscape must be infrastructure for a new, more sustainable lifestyle.” The urgency of his message was underscored by recent unprecedented flooding in Brazil, Bolivia, and China—events he cited as evidence that the profession of landscape architecture needed fundamental change to address the climate crisis.
Tributes poured in from around the world following news of Yu’s death. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed “sadness and consternation,” saying, “During times of climate change, Kongjian Yu became a global reference for sponge cities, which combine quality of life and environmental protection: something we want—and need—for the future.” British architect and critic Kenneth Frampton also mourned Yu’s passing, writing, “We will deeply miss his talent and generosity of spirit. He was such an important and committed figure, dedicated to preserving and cultivating the ecological health of our planet through the art of landscape design at a very large scale.” On Chinese social media, fans and colleagues alike expressed disbelief and sadness at the sudden loss of a visionary leader.
Yu’s legacy endures not only in the parks, wetlands, and urban spaces he helped create, but also in the movement he sparked toward ecological pragmatism and civic imagination. As cities around the world grapple with the realities of climate change, the urgency and optimism of Yu’s vision—one that sought to harmonize urban life with the rhythms of nature—will remain a guiding light for generations to come.