“Hidden Rivers”
Geuze outlines how his firm, West 8, approaches landscape architecture as an integration of place-making, engineering, and ecological systems. Emphasizing systemic, site-driven processes, the studio uncovers “hidden rivers”— a term he borrows from landscape architect Matthew Skjonsberg that describes the layered histories, economies, and environmental forces shaping each site—to inform design. Highlighting three of the firm’s projects, including large-scale floodwater management initiatives in the Netherlands, the Grand Egyptian Museum, and Google’s California campus, he demonstrates how these strategies create spaces that can express cultural identity and foster interaction.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s (TCLF) three-day Oberlander Prize Forum Soak it Up: Los Angeles, CA in December 2025 was inspired by the global champion of the “sponge cities” concept for addressing urban flooding, Chinese landscape architect Kongjian Yu, winner of the 2023 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. The conference featured twenty leading landscape architects, including 2025 Oberlander Prize winner, Mexico City-based Mario Schjetnan, academics, and critics from Los Angeles and beyond, addressing landscape architecture’s leadership in managing the Los Angeles River, urban flooding, and drought in Southern California. The event, held at the Bovard Auditorium at the University of Southern California (USC), was curated by Professor Alison Hirsch, PhD, of the USC School of Architecture, and Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s Founding President and CEO. Kongjian Yu was to have been a featured speaker, but following his tragic death on September 23, 2025, Soak it Up became a memorial to him and his revolutionary work.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.tclf.org/inspiring-soak-it-los-angeles-ca-conference-events-honor-late-oberlander-prize-winner-kongjian-yu.
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