Every week, we bring you the latest news in placemaking, landscape architecture and urban planning, the nature-mental health link, and much more. Check back each week for new roundups and items.
Does Nature Make Us Happy?
“In today’s age of high technology, research shows that our hunger for the natural world still endures. In fact, our connections with nature could just be the best medicine for people of all ages—improving our health, happiness, and well-being. Those same connections could also heal the planet.”
Recognizing Resilience
“In 2012, a year after a devastating tornado hit the town of Joplin, Missouri leaving 161 people dead and leveling Joplin High School and St. John’s Hospital, President Obama addressed the graduating seniors: ‘There are a lot of stories here in Joplin about unthinkable courage and resilience…[People in Joplin] learned that we have the power to grow from these experiences. We can define our lives not by what happened to us, but by how we respond.'”
Adrian Benepe: Natural Parks Define American Cities
“With almost all of my career (and most of my adult life) spent working in or around city parks, I was recently surprised to learn an astonishing fact. In American’s largest cities, more than half contain park systems that are more than 50 percent ‘natural.’ In fact, in America’s 10 largest cities, all but one (Chicago) have park systems where more than half are natural.”
Nature-Infused Hospital in Denmark
“Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have won an international competition to design the New North Zealand Hospital (Nyt Hospital Nordsjælland), one of Denmark’s largest hospitals. Their design proposal, which was created in collaboration with Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects, beat out an impressive shortlist that included BIG and C. F Møller. Located north of Copenhagen in Hillerød, the 30-acre hospital proposal features a strong connection with nature with expansive views out to the surrounding forested landscape as well as rooftop gardens.”
