Urban Forest: Umbrellas for the City

Completed in April, these gigantic candy-colored parasols really brighten up the neighborhood. But they’re not just good-looking white elephants—they’re fully-functional shelters too.

Built in Cordoba, Spain, the ‘Centro Abierto de Actividades Ciudadanas’ was designed by Fernando Pino and Manuel de Paredes of ParedesPino Architects. The varying heights of these shelters are meant to create a “vision of an urban forest" and their concave shapes don’t just mimic the shape of the tree—the stem-like piping also cleverly acts as a water drainage system. Temporary markets are to be held regularly at the new public space twice a week.

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