2024 Oberlander Prize Forums with Laureate Kongjian Yu
The Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu, winner of the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, is a globally recognized champion of the “sponge cities” concept. The premise of the “sponge cities” concept is simple – to deal with climate change accelerated urban flooding, absorb the water with constructed wetlands rather than channeling it with concrete dams and other conventional engineering solutions. As part of the ongoing Oberlander Prize Forum series, TCLF and sponsor Victor Stanley hosted a fascinating and insightful conversation with the landscape architect and Oberlander Prize Jury Chair, Elizabeth Mossop. They discussed the evolution of this idea that he incubated while getting his doctorate at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1992-95), to its adoption as national policy in China in 2013, and subsequent implementation in dozens of Chinese cities. Closing remarks were provided by Oberlander Prize jurors Consuelo Bravo (Chile) and Leonard Ng (Singapore).
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