In the Mirror of Urban Landscapes: Sharing Experiences and Grounding

Abstract

Juan Luis de las Rivas Sanz is Full Professor of Urban Planning and Design and Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Valladolid (Spain). He frequently collaborates with regional and local authorities as a planning consultant and currently leads the IUU_Lab, a research group specializing in spatial planning and urban design. The group has carried out projects for various cities and urban regions – including Burgos, Ponferrada, and Zamora – as well as for several Spanish autonomous communities such as Castilla y León, Asturias, and Extremadura. Additionally, IUU_Lab has been involved in initiatives commissioned by Spanish ministries and regional governments, with a focus on innovation in sustainable urban and regional planning. Professor de las Rivas is the author or co-author of over ten monographs in the fields of regional planning, urban design, and architecture. He is also the Spanish translator of Ian McHarg’s seminal work Design with Nature (Barcelona, 2000). He has served as a visiting professor at numerous universities across Europe, the United States, and Latin America, participating in undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs. His research explores the interplay between nature and urban design, grounded in the architectural foundations of planning. In 2002, his project Directrices de Ordenación Territorial de Valladolid y Entorno – urban guidelines for the metropolitan area – received the Fourth European Urban and Regional Planning Award from the European Council of Town Planners (ECTP). Another of his projects, involving the regeneration of two postwar neighborhoods, received an honourable mention in the 2003 Gubbio International Prize. This booklet emerges from a series of discussions held over the past two years between the authors and Professor de las Rivas. At the early stages of their academic careers, the authors had the opportunity to engage with him on critical topics such as the dialectic between place and landscape, the contradictions inherent in planning practices and urban culture, and the renewed vision of urban planning as a creative and interpretive discipline.