Editorial Gustavo Gili, books on architecture and landscape

This issue brings an end to 2010, a year in which we have aimed to look at the landscape from the perspective of its smallest elements, finding that the essence of our actions often originates in these small things, something we have tried to reflect in the many projects we have published. From interventions carried out with minuscule budgets to projects whose essence lies in a shimmer of light or colour, or those born in a sketch drawn on a piece of paper… We have, at last, focused on urban furniture, showing how this element, which in most cases is left to the last phase in a project’s development, can in fact be its key element, giving it character and identity and satisfying the needs of the place and users of its own accord. We have aimed to cover both specially produced furniture and the industrially produced furniture offered by different companies. For the former, we have focused on how its design responds to the special conditions of each situation; for the latter, how the success of a project can depend on a good choice of furniture from a given range of products. Following these criteria, a number of projects have been selected with the intention of highlighting the quantity and variety of elements involved in the area of urban furniture: from seating, cycle racks, litter bins, bollards and footbridges to lighting, planters, pergolas, elements providing shade, etc. The articles in this issue are intended to encourage reflection on urban furniture from two contrasting but complementary viewpoints, that of the user and that of production, with the inevitable questions about how it should evolve and what lies in store for this sector in the face of the present economic and sociological change. As an example of the evolution and renovation of a unique urban space, we have taken another look at the recently renovated Spanish Industrial Park, on the 25th anniversary of its opening. This is a project which is primarily about the people who bring it alive and find their public meeting place on its steps, a symbolic element representative of the work of Peña Ganchegui. The competitions and student projects sections offer us a fresh young perspective on urban furniture: new forms are emerging and new concerns developing, with the introduction of issues relevant to today’s world, such as sustainability, recycling and cost reduction.