Kongjian Yu Presents Turenscape | THE WORLD AROUND SUMMIT 2024
The World Around & The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum present THE WORLD AROUND SUMMIT 2024. As rising global temperatures result in surging storms and extreme weather events, flash floods are becoming a more regular occurrence across the globe. The concrete infrastructures most cities use to channel the runoff from their streets are no longer fit for purpose. Professor Kongjian Yu is advocating for an alternative approach to the problem: to allow the rain in. Hear him speak at our Summit this Saturday, either in-person or via the free livestream. Since proposing the ‘sponge city’ concept in 2013, Yu has received global recognition for his research into urban flooding and nature-based mitigation strategies. As principal designer of Turenscape , a world-renowned firm reshaping the disciplines of landscape and urban design from Beijing, Yu brings these principles into practice, tending to natural hydrological systems to design more resilient cities. Building on ancient teachings and traditional land practices to reconnect people to the earth, the firm re-approaches landscape architecture as a conservation practice—one that presents opportunities to steward the environment for future generations. Turenscape was awarded the World Landscape of the Year Prize in 2015 and 2017. At The World Around Summit 2024 Yu contemplated how in preparing our cities for the future, we might learn from the landscapes that came before them. Program for the full event available to download at https://theworldaround.com/program/ This presentation has been edited and was part of THE WORLD AROUND SUMMIT 2024, presented by The World Around and the Guggenheim Museum in New York on Saturday, May, 11 2024. The event was hosted in partnership with The World Around Global Cultural Partner Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain. To find out more about The World Around's programming or to get in touch, visit https://www.theworldaround.com

Sylvester Baxter Lecture: Kongjian Yu

Copenhagen: How to flood-proof a city

Tropical Space's architecture of adaptation allows traditional craft to endure | Summit 2026

Kongjian Yu: O Conceito de Cidades-Esponja | CAU Conference 2025

Introducing Kongjian Yu, the 2023 Oberlander Prize Laureate

Flood-Proof Cities Concept – Professor Kongjian Yu's Sponge Cities

Kongjian Yu, "The Art of Survival: Recovering Landscape Architecture"

How China is designing flood-resistant cities

Sponge cities: a solarpunk future by 2030 | Future Explored by Freethink

The French Do Not Care About Work

Sponge City and Sponge Planet | Kongjian Yu | TEDxBoston

A revolution in Chinese gardens led by an Harvard graduate | WIDE

How Did The World Get So Ugly?

World Landscape of the Year 2017 teaches people about China's farming history, says Turenscape

Bas Smets on preparing the emblematic cathedral's esplanade for a warming world | Summit 2026

This man is turning cities into giant sponges to save lives | Pioneers for Our Planet

Piet Oudolf on designing for the seasons at Calder Gardens | Summit 2026

Harari and Tegmark on Humanity and AI

The future of architecture is formgiving – Bjarke Ingels, BIG | HubTalks

