The “sponge cities” concept for addressing climate change accelerated urban flooding championed by the Beijing-based landscape architect Kongjian Yu, the most recent winner of the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, is the inspiration for Soak It Up, a global summit about combatting climate change with landscape architecture – organized by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and with generous support from PlayCore. This is part of an on-going, broader program of both in-person and virtual Oberlander Prize Forums to raise the visibility of the honoree’s work and landscape architecture more broadly.
After watching the five prerecorded sessions with Kongjian Yu, Herbert Dreiseitl, Jasper Hugtenburg, Mia Lehrer, and Kotchakorn Voraakhom, join them for a live moderated capstone event to expand on the themes explored in the videos.
The origin stories of the speakers, specifically how they found their way to landscape architecture and when they realized this profession would be their life’s work;
2. How the practitioner got involved in water management issues, how their work developed over time, current water management challenges in their region, and unique geographic and cultural considerations;
3. The general approach to uniting design with water management and the aspects of water management with which they’ve been involved (e.g. rivers, coastal erosion, sea level rise, etc.);
4. A description of two to three specific projects that illustrate the speaker’s approach and design philosophy, and reflections on how they measure success in these projects; and,
5. Closing thoughts where the practitioner addresses the import of landscape architecture in addressing contemporary environmental and social challenges and why landscape architects should lead this charge.
The five presentations, and the closing panel discussion, require pre-registration. This is a free event and a total of 5.0 LA CES credits will be offered.
