A view shows the site of a plane crash site where Chinese landscape architect and urban planner Kongjian Yu died, in the vast wetlands of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil, on Sept. 24, 2025. Policia Civil de Minas Gerais/Handout via Reuters
SAO PAULO–Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu died in a plane crash late on Tuesday in the vast Brazilian wetlands of Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazilian authorities said on Wednesday.
Yu, 62, gained global relevance as a landscape architect and urban planner after the Chinese regime adopted his concept of “sponge cities” using nature-based solutions to absorb and retain water instead of concrete infrastructure to channel it away.
