SAO PAULO: Chinese architect Kongjian Yu, known for his so-called nature-mimicking “sponge cities,” has died in a small plane crash in Brazil with two filmmakers documenting his work, police said Wednesday.
The 62-year-old was considered a leading figure in sustainable urban planning; his “sponge cities” replacing concrete surfaces with natural features that better absorb water in flood situations.
The award-winning Yu was in Brazil for the recording of a documentary about his work when he perished with two filmmakers and the pilot in a plane crash late Tuesday in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state.
Police said the cause of the accident was not known.
The other three deceased were documentary makers Luiz Fernando Feres da Cunha Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Jr, as well as the pilot, who owned the aircraft.
Brazil’s Council of Architecture and Urbanism, which recently hosted Yu as a speaker at an international conference, said his “sponge cities” concept has been applied in more than a thousand projects in 250 cities.
“His contribution has influenced environmental public policies in China and other countries,” it said in a statement expressing condolences to the architect’s family, friends and colleagues.
Famed ‘sponge cities’ Chinese architect dead in Brazil plane crash
https://arab.news/ybda9
Famed ‘sponge cities’ Chinese architect dead in Brazil plane crash
- The 62-year-old was considered a leading figure in sustainable urban planning
- The award-winning Yu was in Brazil for the recording of a documentary about his work
Russian strike on Ukraine kills 4, including 3 young children: official
- Bogodukhiv is located in Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have recently stepped up attacks on transport and energy infrastructure
KYIV, Ukraine: A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bogodukhiv killed four people, including three young children, an official said on Wednesday.
Two one-year-old boys and a two-year-old girl died as a result of an enemy strike, according to regional military head Oleg Synegubov.
A 34-year-old man in the same house as the children also died from his wounds, Synegubov said on Telegram.
He added that a 74-year-old woman was wounded and was receiving medical assistance.
In an earlier statement, he also said a 35-year-old pregnant woman had been wounded in the strike.
Bogodukhiv is located in Kharkiv region, where Russian forces have recently stepped up attacks on transport and energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have held US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending Moscow’s four-year invasion.
The two sides conducted a prisoner swap last week, though an agreement to draw a line under the conflict still seems a way off.
According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), around 15,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia invaded in February 2022.
HRMMU said that 2025 was the deadliest year with more than 2,500 civilians killed.
