Peking University, September 25, 2025: Yu Kongjian, Founding Dean and professor at College of Architecture and Landscape, was killed in a plane crash in Brazil on September 23(Brazil local time) along with two Brazilian filmmakers on board and the pilot. They were on a documentary filming trip in the Pantanal Conservation Area in the Brazilian State of Mato Grosso.
A practical conservationist and environmentalist, Professor Yu had always championed the concept of harmony between humanity and nature as a guiding principle in adaptation to climate change. His pragmatism in factoring in local conditions can be reflected in an array of award-winning urban designs, including the Yanweizhou Park in Jinhua City and the campus rice paddy in Shenyang Jianzhu University.
Born to a rural family in 1963 in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, Professor Yu had been interested in environmental design since childhood, having been fascinated with the ancient water conservancy system in his village. After graduating from Beijing Forestry University in 1987 with a Master’s degree in Forestry, he went to Harvard and eventually obtained a Doctor of Design in 1995. In 1997, he came back to China with the halo of a Harvard Ph.D. and founded the College of Architecture and Landscape at PKU, with a mission to aid China’s conservation endeavor with his “sponge city” proposition.
Today, his proposition has been incorporated into China’s government report and implemented in over 1000 projects across hundreds of cities in China and beyond. He was recently recognized in Forbes’ 2025 Sustainability Leaders list, which honors 50 people per year for their worldwide impact on climate action and green transition.
Professor Yu’s legacy will continue to reverberate and inspire in a world that is facing ever-increasing pressure from climate change. His last question posted online will forever hold up a mirror to humanity as we try to square our behavior with mother nature’s patience: “The water, life and humanity’s choice here pose an urgent question: Where can humanity see hope of survival when the last Garden of Eden vanishes?”
Written by: Chen Shizhuo
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
