In this introduction to the three upcoming speakers of the final session of the conference—Mario Schjetnan, the 2025 Oberlander Prize Laureate; Adriaan Geuze, Founding Partner Principal of the Rotterdam-based landscape architecture firm West 8; and Maura Rockcastle, Principal and Co-founder of the Minneapolis-based landscape architecture firm TEN x TEN—Beardsley speaks to how each one has had a palpable, positive impact on our cultural landscapes through their work. A former professor of history and theory at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Department of Landscape Architecture, Beardsley also reflects on the importance of historical context in landscape architecture, evident in the work of Kongjian Yu and his “sponge cities” concept for adaptive water strategies.
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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