Chinese architect Kongjian Yu dies in Brazil plane crash

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Chinese architect Kongjian Yu died in a plane crash late on Tuesday in the vast Brazilian wetlands of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin said on Wednesday.

Yu, 62, gained global relevance as an architect and urban planner after the Chinese government adopted his concept of “sponge cities” using nature-based solutions to absorb and retain water instead of concrete infrastructure to channel it away. 

The concept has since been adopted in hundreds of places in China as well as urban areas from the U.S. to Russia.

Alckmin confirmed that Yu and three other people, the pilot and two local filmmakers, were killed when the aircraft they were traveling in crashed in a rural area near the town of Aquidauana, in the Pantanal wetlands.

“I received with sadness the news of the plane crash in the Pantanal,” the vice president wrote on X.

“Professor Yu made notable contributions to sustainable urbanism, the preservation of biodiversity and the protection of the planet. His legacy will continue to inspire all those dedicated to the ecological cause,” he added.

Yu was featured in the opening program of the Sao Paulo International Architecture Biennale last week. Newspaper Estadao reported that he then joined a trip with filmmakers shooting a documentary about his work.

Turenscape, a Beijing-based design firm Yu founded in 1998 that specializes in landscape architecture, urban planning and ecological restoration, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal working hours.

Yu has led Turenscape since its founding as the firm’s principal designer, growing it into a team of more than 500 specialists, according to its website.

(Reporting by Fernando Cardoso in Sao Paulo; Additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Gabriel Araujo, Brad Haynes, Hugh Lawson and Ed Osmond)