Leisure Landscapes

Ivan Gogolák, Lukáš Grasse 

The concepts of the inhabited landscape, popularized in the first half of the 20^th century, or the recreational landscape in the second, are no longer sufficient for describing and understanding suburban recreation today. Nor are suburban parks, green rings or wedges. How can we understand human interventions in the landscape today? Which parts of the landscape are more valuable than others? Environmental challenges, agricultural production, ecosystem services and diversity, all need to be considered in relation to our expectations of time spent in nature. Leisure Landscapes—the title of this issue—provokes imagination. Historically, the territory of the current Czech state was a global leader in using landscapes for recreation and contemplation. Can we maintain this tradition?
The purpose of this issue is not to describe the entirety of leisure infrastructure in urban, suburban and rural areas. Instead we focus on places where small-scale architectural interventions help boost the landscape's potential, creating a complete set of paths and points for recreation, tourism, and learning. 
Practicing problem analysis from a large, urban planning perspective is something we as architects grew up on. We were trained to understand connections, meanings, and context. Hopefully, the insight we present won’t feel too strange to you, the reader. Allow it to show you a new way of looking at landscapes—those we call our own, or those we just visit.