Mon 2/24 | UW//LA Winter Departmental Lecture
Kongjian Yu, Turenscape
Designed Ecologies and the Creation of Deep Form
6:00 pm | Arch 147
This lecture will offer one (1) Professional Development Hour (PDH). Please register here if you wish to receive credit.
Abstract:
Known as China’s Olmsted by many, and a “Force of Nature” by Time Magazine, Kongjian Yu and his office Turenscape are the foremost landscape architecture firm in China today. The vast scale of China and its apparently boundless growth have enabled Yu to test many ideas that are still largely theories in the Western world. Kongjian Yu is known for his ecological stance, often against the resistance of local authorities. His guiding design principles are the appreciation of the ordinary and a deep embracing of nature, even in its potentially destructive aspects, such as floods. Among his most acclaimed projects are Houtan Park for Shanghai Expo, the Red Ribbon Park in Qinhuangdao, Shipyard Park in Zhongshan, and the Storm Water park in Harbin. These culturally sensitive and ecologically sound projects have won him numerous international awards, including ten ASLA awards in the past ten years. In this lecture, Kongjian will share with us some of his most recent built projects and the thoughts behind them.
Kongjian has also been featured in our local ARCADE journal: The Beautiful Big Foot and International Models, Evolution and the Imperative to Change (Interview by Barbara Swift).