Dr. Kongjian Yu’s "Monsoon Culture" approach to climate resilience
Waterloo Architecture is honoured to host the presentation “Climate Resilience Inspired by Monsoon Culture,” by renowned landscape architect Dr. Kongjian Yu, on Thursday, October 24, 2024.
Dr. Kongjian Yu, Founder and Principal Designer of Turenscape, is one of the most significant landscape architects globally, known for championing the “sponge city” concept as a solution to urban flooding. His work has redefined how cities can adapt to natural water flows, using ecological infrastructure to manage stormwater and enhance urban resilience.
Photo: Dr. Kongjian Yu, Founder and Principal Designer of Turenscape.
“Dr. Yu’s visit is an extraordinary opportunity for our community to engage with one of the foremost leaders in climate-responsive design. His contributions to landscape architecture are transformative, and his emphasis on ecological systems is vital for the future of sustainable urbanism," says Jane Mah Hutton, Professor from Waterloo Architecture.
Dr. Yu’s writing spans topics such as “Climate Resilient Design,” “The Big Foot Revolution,” “Landscape as Ecological Infrastructure,” and “Deep Form in Urban Nature.” Over his 25-year academic career, he has been a steadfast advocate for addressing the deteriorating state of urban ecologies. His pioneering research on Ecological Security Pattern (1995) and his work on Ecological Infrastructure, Negative Planning, and Sponge Cities (2003) have shaped China’s nationwide ecological protection and restoration policies from economic development-centered urbanism toward ecologically prudent urbanism.
Yu defines landscape architecture as the art of survival. His guiding design principles are the appreciation of the ordinary and a deep embrace of nature, even in its potentially destructive aspects such as urban flooding. He drew on inspiration from his childhood farming experience and the ancient wisdom of water and waste management to design and test a series of nature-based solutions, including strengthened constructed wetland for water filtration, ‘green sponge’ for storm water management and ecosystems services-oriented design for brownfield remediation. He has then upgraded and standardized these solutions to become replicable ecological engineering modules that can be implemented at large scale in a cost-effective manner to solve multiple urban ecological problems in a symbiotic and holistic way.
In 1998, Dr. Yu founded Turenscape, one of the first private practices in urbanism and landscape architecture in China, which has grown to become one of the largest practices in the world in these fields, with over 500 professionals. He and his team have designed and built over 500 projects in over 250 cities in China and abroad. He has won over 40 prestigious international awards for his ecologically sound and culturally sensitive projects.
"Dr. Yu and Turenscape’s work demonstrates the potential of large scale ecosystem-based adaptations. His approach not only addresses immediate challenges like urban flooding but also contributes to long-term ecological and cultural resilience. His vision is inspiring cities globally to rethink how they plan environments," adds Mah Hutton.
For more information visit the event website.
Arriscraft Canada Brick Speaker Series: Climate Resilience Inspired by Monsoon Culture
Date: Thursday, October 24, 2024
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: ARC - School of Architecture
7 Melville Street South
Laurence A Cummings Lecture Theatre
Cambridge, ON, CA N1S 2H4
Banner photo: Haikou Meishe River Greenway and Fengxiang Park project by Turenscape.