Walking and Staying in the Landscape

Walking and standing, or moving and staying, are two of the first accomplishments we achieve as hu- mans. The two acts are hard to separate, so when we initially proposed discussing the topics of walking and staying in the landscape for two separate Ri-Vis- ta issues, we decided, in accordance with the scien- tific committee, to combine them into a single issue. We know that the two subjects are different in con- cept and form: walking is physical, staying is men- tal; walking is exploration, staying is contemplation; walking is dynamic, staying is stillness; walking is re- search, staying is consolidation. We also know it’s possible to rewrite the previous list by overturning the concepts, mixing them, confusing them, and re- arranging them according to different points of view, purposes, and needs. Walking and staying are two actions that transform, and hence require designing the landscape in differ- ent but complementary ways. Walking and staying are often addressed as separate concepts, but the choice and opportunity to merge them allows the cre- ation of unexpected scenarios. Being asked to reflect on this dichotomy is a gamble that could have result- ed in paradoxes and contradictions. However, the call contained the thrill of surprise and the unknown. The opportunity to consider the two subjects together took shape in our minds as an understanding of what could happen by conjoining two opposites—what randomness and possibilities could arise. The outcomes of this question presented in this is- sue will allow readers to measure the state of the art of landscape design and its related fields surround- ing the two key subjects of walking and staying, and/ or their capacity to be interpreted as conjoined and intersected. Walking and staying are crucial themes in the history and contemporaneity of landscape de- sign. They are presented here as a current cultural, professional, and scholarly representation made of chiaroscuro—light and shadow.