Designers of Mountain and Water: Alternative Landscapes for a Changing Climate

Eugene Wang is the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art at Harvard University, where he holds positions in History of Art and Architecture, Archaeology, Study of Religion, TDM (Theater, Dance, and Medium), and Inner Asia and Altaic Studies. A 2005 Guggenheim Fellow, he is the art history editor of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism (2004). His research covers Asian Buddhist art as well as Chinese art history. His book, Shaping the Lotus Sutra: Buddhist Visual Culture in Medieval China (2005), on art of worldmaking, received the Sakamoto Nichijin Academic Achievement Award from Japan. He was recently twice recognized by the FAS Dean’s Fund for Promising Scholarship. He is the founding director of Harvard CAMLab dedicated to turning cultural-historical knowledge into sensorial experience. The exhibition he curated in 2024, Mawangdui: Art of Life, at the Hunan Museum, designed and produced by his team, won the2025  iF Design Award from Germany.

Yukio Lippit is Professor of History of Art and Architecture, Harvard University. Lippit specializes in the history of Japanese art. His book Painting of the Realm: The Kano House of Painters in Seventeenth-Century Japan (2012) was awarded the Charles Rufus Morey Book Award by the College Art Association and the John Whitney Hall Book Prize by the Association of Asian Studies. Other books include Sesson Shukei: A Zen Monk-Painter in Medieval Japan (2022), The Artist in Edo (2018), Irresolution: The Paintings of Yoshiaki Shimizu (2017), Japanese Zen Buddhism and the Impossible Painting (2016), Sōtatsu: Making Waves (2016), The Thinking Hand: Tools and Traditions of the Japanese Carpenter (2013), Kenzo Tange: Architecture for the World (2012), Colorful Realm: Japanese Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Itō Jakuchū (1716-1800) (2012), and Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan (2007).

Jinah Kim is the George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art and Professor of South Asian Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of Receptacle of the Sacred: Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist book cult in South Asia (University of California Press, 2013), which earned 2015 AAS Bernard Cohn Prize honorable mention, and Garland of Visions: Color, Tantra and a Material History of Indian Painting (University of California Press, 2021).In addition to her academic research, she leads a digital humanities project on color and pigments in Asian painting, ” Mapping Color in History ,” which serves as an interdisciplinary research platform for conservation specialists as well as anyone interested in material aspects of color, with a searchable, open database for historical research on pigments. . She co-curated an NEH-funded exhibition on Nepalese Buddhist Ritual art  and co-edited its catalog, Dharma and Puṇya: Buddhist ritual art of Nepal (Hotei, 2019). In her role as the Johnson Kulukundis faculty director in the arts at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard (2022-2025),  she curated an exhibition on climate change, Water Stories: River Goddesses, Ancestral Rites, and Climate Crisis  in Fall 2023 held on the Radcliffe campus (Sep 18-Dec 16, 2023).

Sun Joo Kim  is the Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University. She received a BA in history from Yonsei University in Korea, as well as a MA and Ph.D. in history from the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the socio-cultural history of Chosŏn Korea (1392–1910), resulting in publications on topics including social movements, regional identity, kinship and genealogy, slavery, and legal history. She is also dedicated to making underused yet illuminating primary sources available in English through conventional and digital publishing. She has overseen several projects, including the Harvard Korean Alumni Biographies Project , the Korean Treasures at Harvard  lecture series, and the Gateway to Premodern Korean Studies  research resource website. She has also collaborated with colleagues in the field to offer a series of workshops on Korean art history and the New Frontiers in Premodern Korean Studies Workshop.

Nicholas Harkness is the Modern Korean Economy and Society Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard Korea Institute. He specializes in the ethnographic study of communication and sociocultural semiosis (sign-processes). His research in South Korea has resulted in publications on various topics, including voice, language, music, religion, ritual, kinship, liquor, and the city of Seoul. His first book, Songs of Seoul: An Ethnography of Voice and Voicing in Christian South Korea (University of California Press, 2014), was awarded the Edward Sapir Book Prize by the Society for Linguistic Anthropology (Co-Winner, 2014, American Anthropological Association). Harkness’s second book is titled Glossolalia and the Problem of Language (University of Chicago Press, 2021). A number of his papers have been devoted to developing an anthropological approach to “qualia.” These papers incorporate the innovations of contemporary semiotics into the ethnographic theorization of sensuous social life.

Heike Rahmann is a senior lecturer in landscape architecture at RMIT University. Her research and teaching focus on innovative design techniques and contemporary urbanism, combining theory, technology, and urban ecology. She explores these themes through critical writing and creative practice. Through her work, she has established strong partnerships with industry, community, and government bodies in Australia and Asia, especially in Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Heike has published widely, including three co-authored books: Tokyo Void: Possibilities in Absence (Jovis, 2014), Landscape Architecture and Digital Technologies (Routledge, 2016), and The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture (Jovis, 2020). For her most recent work, Landscape Architects as Changemakers (in collaboration with Jillian Walliss), she produced films and a bilateral exhibition that explores award-winning design practices in Australia and Japan. This research provides a deeper understanding of how landscape architects operate within their own contexts to achieve outcomes that positively contribute to environmental, economic, and cultural futures. 

Youngmin Kim is a Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Seoul and the Design Director at VRION, a landscape architecture firm based in Korea. He studied architecture and landscape architecture at Seoul National University and earned his MLA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Before joining the University of Seoul, he practiced with the SWA Group, an internationally renowned landscape architecture firm in the United States and taught as a lecturer at the University of Southern California. He is also the author, editor, and translator of several books on landscape design and urbanism. Professor Kim has led major urban design and landscape projects in Korea, including the Paris Park Renovation, Gwanghwamun Square Renovation, and the Administrative City Central Plaza. His current research and practice focus on developing landscape-based solutions and strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change across multiple scales, with an emphasis on establishing quantitative methods to evaluate their effectiveness.

A leading voice in global climate resilience design, Thai landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom uses design to combat the climate crisis in Southeast Asia’s dense urban context. She is the visionary behind LANDPROCESS and the Porous City Network, organizations dedicated to creating porous, water-absorbing public spaces that help cities adapt to extreme weather with vulnerable communities. Her transformative work includes Bangkok’s first climate-adaptive park, Chulalongkorn Centenary Park; the Thammasat Urban Rooftop Farm, Asia’s largest organic rooftop farm; the innovative Chao Phraya Sky Park; and the transformation of Thailand’s largest government complex with nature-based solutions.

Her global recognition includes a UN Climate Action Award, a spot on the TIME 100 Next list, and features in BBC 100 Women and Bloomberg Green 30. As a TED Fellow and one of the 15 Global Commission of World Economic Forum on Nature Positive Cities, she shares her expertise on landscape architecture for urban adaptability widely. Voraakhom holds a master’s from Harvard University and an honorary doctorate from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Her dedication reshapes urban landscapes to address both ecological survival and human dignity.

Jillian Walliss is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Associate Dean of Engagement at the Melbourne School of Design. She co-authored the book Landscape Architecture and Digital Technologies: Reconceptualising Design and Making (Routledge, 2015) with Dr. Heike Rahmann. This collaboration continued with the co-edited The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture (Jovis,2020), which is considered the first book to present a comprehensive account of contemporary Asian landscape architecture. Mixing theory, critical reflections, and design projects, it offers fresh perspectives for a discipline that has been dominated by North American and European influences. Jillian actively contributes to the broader design community, continually advancing the discourse on the cultural and technological dimensions of landscape architecture. She has curated several influential exhibitions, including Landscape Architects as Change Makers (2023) and The Square + The Park festival (2019), both of which examine the role of landscape architects in shaping public spaces and addressing cultural and ecological challenges.

Myeong-Jun Lee is Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Hankyong National University. He received his PhD from Seoul National University. His research deals with the history, theory, and pedagogy of landscape design, with broader interests in landscape and visual culture. Early on, he examined how Western modes of representing landscape were introduced to Korea in the early twentieth century (“Nature as Spectacle: Photographic Representations of Nature in Early Twentieth-Century Korea,” History of Photography, 2015). He later analyzed shifts in ecological design thinking for urban parks in Seoul (“Ecological Design Strategies and Theory for Urban Parks in Seoul, 1990s–Present,” Land, 2021) and published on landscape pedagogy (Landscape Research, 2022). His more recent studies include “Design history: Constructing a Korean identity in New Gwanghwamun Square” (Habitat International, 2023) and “Trends and Issues of Garden City Municipal Projects in Korea” (Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture, 2024, in Korean). He is also the author of Representing Landscape Architecture, a monograph in Korean on the history of design drawing (Hansoop, 2021), developed from his doctoral dissertation and later translated into Chinese by Southeast University Press.

Goh Yu Han is the Director of Design at Salad Dressing. She is a Malaysian-born landscape architect with a background in the arts and has been associated with the practice since its inception. Yu Han’s design philosophy is driven by her intrinsic interest in art history and Eastern literature. As a polymath, she inhabits the definition of a generalist and flirts with concepts of a post-humanist-driven ecology through her work. She believes that any inequality in this period of time will be the main value change, from slavery, to the fight against sexism, to the current ecological struggle against speciesism.

Chisa Toda is a co-founder ofstudio on site, a landscape architecture firm located in Tokyo, Japan. With over 30 years of experience, she has contributed to a diverse range of projects, spanning from intimate urban parks to large-scale regional restoration projects. Her portfolio includes award-winning works such as Shinagawa Central Garden, Nagano Prefectural Art Museum/Joyama Park, Tama New Town Regeneration, YKK Kurobe Center Park, and others. In her practice, Chisa focuses on creating spaces that address the challenges of global climate change while revitalizing the natural environment. She seeks to portray the aesthetics of nature by embodying the distinct features of each site, fostering environments that enhance the significance of nature in people’s lives. Chisa has taught at Tama Art University, Keio University, and Kanto Gakuin University in Japan. She received an MLA from Harvard University and a BA from Tokyo Zokei University.

Jungyoon Kim, Associate Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture at the GSD, is a practicing landscape architect, registered in the Netherlands and in the state of Massachusetts. She found PARKKIM with Yoonjin Park in Rotterdam, upon their winning of the Taiwan Chichi Earthquake Memorial Design Competition (2004), and relocated to Seoul, Korea (2006). PARKKIM has completed projects of diverse scales and natures, ranging from corporate landscapes to civic venues. Current ongoing projects include the Suseongmot Lake Floating Stage in Daegu, Korea, for which PARKKIM won the international invited competition in 2024 and is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Dong Wang is a Chinese National Registered Urban Planner and Senior Landscape Architect, leading the Eco-city Design Center at TURENSCAPE and serving as Deputy Director of the NbS Innovation Center at Peking University. He specializes in sponge city design, ecological planning, and nature-based solutions, with a portfolio spanning over 100 projects across China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe—including internationally acclaimed works such as Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok and Beijing’s Ecological Security Pattern Planning. His practice integrates research, policy input, and ecological design, and has been recognized with major awards including the ASLA Honor Award, WAF Landscape of the Year, and the UIA Award. He is a frequent speaker at international forums and contributes to Chinese ecological restoration standards and publications.

Shunsaku Miyagi is a founding partner of PLACEMEDIA , an award-winning landscape and urban design firm based in Tokyo and Kyoto, Japan. He has worked on projects of various scales and locations both domestic and overseas for the past 35 years, ranging from small-scale housing complexes to large-scale urban redevelopment, and even resort development that harmoniously preserves and enhances the value of historic and natural environments. In particular, the highly acclaimed works he has worked on in collaboration with renowned Japanese architects such as Yoshio Taniguchi, Kengo Kuma and others are said to have contributed greatly to acknowledging the status of landscape architects in Japan.

Miyagi holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design and a PhD in Urban Design Studies from Kyoto University. His extensive academic career includes appointments of Associate Professor in Landscape Architecture at Chiba University and Professor in Urban Design at The University of Tokyo. He is currently teaching an option studio at the GSD, which has fields of study in Japan for the academic year 2025-26.

Yoonjin Park is the Founding principal of PARKKIM. He published a book, ‘Alternative Nature (2016)’, co-authored with Jungyoon Kim, the compilation of articles published by the two practicing landscape architects in various media since 2001. The term ‘alternative nature’ was first presented in their essay ‘Gangnam Alternative Nature: the experience of nature without parks’, published in the book ‘Asian Alterity (ed. William Lim, Singapore: 2007)’, rethinking the concept of ‘what is natural?’ within the context of contemporary East Asian urbanism.
Park has been invited for lectures and colloquiums by international institutions such as Melbourne University, Shih-Chien University, Harvard University. He received his MLA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Gary Hilderbrand, FASLA, FAAR, is the Peter Louis Hornbeck Professor in Practice and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is also principal and founder of Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects. Hilderbrand is a fellow and resident of the American Academy in Rome. He received the Design Medal from ASLA in 2017. His widely acclaimed publications include The Miller Garden: Icon of Modernism (Spacemaker Press, 1999) and Visible | Invisible: Landscape Works of Reed Hilderbrand (Metropolis Books, 2013).