Christmas has come to the WIETE earlier this year - on 19 December 2019, we received a book entitled: Water - Reality and Illusion, German Garden Shows in 2007-2017 (the original Polish title: Woda - Rzeczywistość i Iluzje, Niemieckie Wystawy Ogrodnicze w Latach 2007-2017), authored by Sabina Kuc and published by the Publishing house of Cracow University of Technology in Kraków, Poland, in 2019.

The paramount objective of the book is to raise the awareness of water as a medium, so vital and important in the life of all creatures and nature, as well as its material, cultural, spiritual, and other aspects. The individual chapters deal with issues, such as exhibitions in the open and the urbanised landscapes; water in the topography of exhibition grounds; shaping views of water versus techno-creation; water features; water illusions. Moreover, the author demonstrates the role and importance of water in architectural and urban structures throughout history, and in the contemporary efforts of revitalisation of cities and the built environment. The only limitation of the book is that it is aimed only at the Polish-speaking reader. Hence, it is hoped that the book will soon be translated into English; hence, grossly increasing its exposure.

The author is an academic with the rank of a university professor, a practising architect, as well as a passionate traveller and photographer. She loves meeting people, making new friendships and establishing new collaborations. Professor Kuc is a Fellow of the WIETE, Vice-President of the WIETE International Academic Advisory Committee and member of the editorial board of the World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education (WTE&TE), to name a few.

Our readers may have come across an article by Professor Kuc entitled The photo exhibition of the Garden Show, BUGA, as a way to teach landscape architecture to students, published early this year in the WTE&TE, Vol.17, No.1, 2019, which touched on the educational aspects of garden exhibitions in the formation of the professional silhouette of a well-rounded modern architect.

We wish to congratulate Professor Kuc for this accomplishment and wish her well in her professional endeavour.