Chinese architect Yu Kongjian among 4 killed in plane crash in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands

Architect Yu Kongjian speaks during an interview at his firm's office in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, file)

RIO DE JANEIRO -- A small aircraft has crashed in Brazil, killing four people including the distinguished Chinese architect and urbanist Yu Kongjian, Brazil’s vice-president said on Wednesday.

The crash occurred on Tuesday evening as the plane was attempting to land at a large farm approximately 100 kilometres from the municipality of Aquidauana in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state, firefighters said.

There was no immediate information on what caused the crash.

Yu conceived the idea of “sponge cities,” which aim to mitigate the impact of climate change by using “green infrastructure” to create storm-resilient cities.

He argued that by creating large spaces to hold water in city centers, such as parks and ponds, extreme rainfall can be absorbed, helping prevent floods. The idea is widely cited in Chinese urban planning, and in recent years Yu worked on projects in other countries including Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

He was known for his “notable contributions to sustainable urbanism, the preservation of biodiversity, and the protection of the planet,” Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin said on X, adding that Yu’s legacy will continue to inspire those dedicated to the ecological cause.

Yu founded the College of Architecture and Landscape at Peking University, one of China’s most prestigious universities.

The university did not respond a request for comment.

Filmmakers Luiz Fernando Feres da Cunha Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Jr, and pilot Marcelo Pereira de Barros, also died in the crash, Alckmin said.

The local military fire department was called at around 8:10 p.m. local time on Tuesday to respond to a plane crash, firefighters said.

A search and rescue operation lasted approximately nine hours.

Yu and the film makers were part of a team producing a documentary about the Pantanal wetlands, the world’s largest tropical wetlands.

The Pantanal, fed by tributaries of the Paraguay River and mostly located in Brazil, is a biodiversity hotspot and a popular destination for tourists to see jaguars, macaws, caimans, capybaras and migratory birds in the wild.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2022, Yu criticized much of Asia’s modern infrastructure for being built on ideas imported from Europe, which he said are ill-fitted to the monsoon climate that prevails over much of the continent.

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By Eleonore Hughes

Fu Ting contributed to this report from Washington D.C. and Mauricio Savarese from Sao Paulo.