Profound Condolences on the Passing of Professor Yu Kongjian

September 25, 2025, 11:40 | Beijing

We are deeply saddened to learn of the unfortunate passing of Professor Yu Kongjian. The Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture expresses profound condolences on Professor Yu’s death and extends sincere sympathy to his family.  

Professor Yu Kongjian once served as Dean of the School of Architecture and Landscape Design at Peking University, Distinguished Boya Professor of Peking University, Professor, and doctoral supervisor. He also held positions including Standing Director of the Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture and Chairman of the Climate Change Response Working Committee of the Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture. Internationally, he was awarded the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award by the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), and also received numerous other prestigious honors such as the Cobb Award for Common Good and the National Design Award of the United States. Domestically, he was conferred the "Achievement Award for Returned Overseas Students" jointly by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the "First Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award for Overseas Chinese Professionals" by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council.  

Professor Yu Kongjian was an internationally renowned landscape architect and landscape architecture educator. He advocated the concept of returning to natural ecology and systematically practiced this concept through theoretical research, teaching, and engineering project practice, thereby promoting the improvement of human settlements and the development of the industry. He advocated the establishment of ecological infrastructure to comprehensively address ecological and environmental issues, explored the use of ecological principles and landscape architecture methods for urban flood control and water management, and contributed to the construction of water-resilient cities, urban ecological restoration, and the creation of livable environments. He designed a series of nature-based technical models for ecological restoration projects, which have been applied in landscape architecture and ecological restoration practices both at home and abroad. In 1997, he was appointed as a professor at the School of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University. Subsequently, he took the lead in founding the Peking University Research Center for Landscape Planning and Design, the Peking University Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, and the Peking University School of Architecture and Landscape Design. He also founded the journal 《Landscape Architecture Frontiers》, devoting his lifelong efforts to promoting the development of the landscape architecture discipline system and cultivating a large number of high-quality professionals for the country.  

The passing of Professor Yu Kongjian is a major loss to China’s landscape architecture discipline and industry. "The deceased has passed away, and the living must carry on." Let us continue to work hard to advance the cause of landscape architecture in China and contribute to the construction of Chinese-style modernization.  

The Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture  

Reviewed by: Jia Jianzhong