The 62-year-old was considered a leading figure in sustainable urban planning; his "sponge cities" replacing concrete surfaces with natural features that better absorb water in flood situations.

The award-winning Yu was in Brazil for the recording of a documentary about his work when he perished with two filmmakers and the pilot in a plane crash late Tuesday in Brazil's Mato Grosso do Sul state.

Police said the cause of the accident was not known.

The other three deceased were documentary makers Luiz Fernando Feres da Cunha Ferraz and Rubens Crispim Jr, as well as the pilot, who owned the aircraft.

Brazil's Council of Architecture and Urbanism, which recently hosted Yu as a speaker at an international conference, said his "sponge cities" concept has been applied in more than a thousand projects in 250 cities.

"His contribution has influenced environmental public policies in China and other countries," it said in a statement expressing condolences to the architect's family, friends and colleagues.