Insights: Art and Architecture

Remembering Kongjian Yu

A Special Edition of our series following the tragic death of the visionary landscape architect, Kongjian Yu, who died in a plane crash in Brazil on September 23. No one was leading the way more boldly to save our planet from the climate crisis than Kongjian Yu. He was world famous for his successes in China and around the world. Kongjian’s core philosophy is Sponge City, a landscape infrastructure based on the idea that land can retain, mitigate, and purify rainwater. To describe it he himself evoked an ancient Chinese martial art: “doing tai chi with water.”

Peter Eisenman

93-year old architect, theorist and professor Peter Eisenman, holds a place in architectural history as one of the New York Five, and the founder of Deconstructivism. He’s the recipient of the Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. And he has made a lifelong commitment to teaching, serving on the faculty of Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Cooper Union and Cambridge. He now teaches at Cornell University in Manhattan where he plans to adapt his newest course on the genealogy of architecture as the subject of his 28th book.

Raj Rewal

90-year old Raj Rewal is one of the most distinguished Indian architects of all time – and Victoria’s old friend. He is the architect of Delhi’s most important Modern buildings and with many masterpieces published in the History of World Architecture. His work, recently displayed at an exhibition of Post-Colonial architecture at MoMA,  is displayed in the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale. Raj talks about his latest creative passion – miniature paintings and drawings inspired by historical Indian works of art.

Moshe Safdie

87-year old Israeli-Canadian-American architect Moshe Safdie, remains unstoppable with new projects from Singapore to Bentonville, Arkansas. He’s the recipient of the Gold Medal, the highest honor, from both the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the American Institute of Architects. Moshe discusses his Marina Bay Sands complex in Singapore where expansion is about to begin on what’s become Singapore’s national landmark. The huge hotel’s three towers include a casino, a conference center, a shopping mall, an art museum, and a spectacular rooftop infinity pool that overlooks the scenic bay.

Rem Koolhaas

Visionary architect Rem Koolhaas has been shaping and disrupting architecture for his entire career. At age 80, he is the youngest of Victoria’s guests and remains a prolific writer and one of the world’s most influential architects with multiple new projects including the expansion of NYC’s New Museum opening Fall 2025.