Tag: design


Innovative hospitals incorporate garden design

Innovative hospitals incorporate therapeutic garden design into a holistic care approach. One such place, Legacy Health, combines its traditional medical expertise with the healing power of a four-season terrace garden at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center (EMC) in Portland, Oregon. The Terrace Garden provides the Family Birth Center and Cardiovascular Intensive Care unit a restorative place…

TKF Foundation’s Urban Park Vision

On a trip to England in 1995, Tom and Kitty Stoner visited an urban park tucked in the midst of a busy London neighborhood. This serene and protected park was used by many as a place of refuge during World War II. Wooden benches lined the walking path. On the back of many of the…

Future of Blue Spaces

Nearly all of our human settlements have sprung from nearby water supplies. A clean and accessible water source allows new villages and cities to grow. Evolutionary biologists would argue that our modern day romance with lake and ocean-views ties back to our original search for such life-giving places. But in today’s rising sea levels and…

Japanese Garden Design, Perception, and Wellness

Within the theory and practice of garden design exists the concept of ‘patterns’. Patterns are not rules, but general guidelines suggesting how people and a setting can be ‘in sync’. Some patterns suggest ways in which a green space can provide healing benefit to visitors. For example, the pattern ‘Wondering in Small Spaces’ describes how…

An Experience Within Green Infrastructure

This month we’ve briefly reviewed the shifts in large-scale urban infrastructure design. Effective technological innovations in transportation, communications, energy, and environmental services (water, wastewater, garbage disposal) in the 19th and early 20th century enabled economic growth, and contributed to the physical transformation of city planning and development. Today, cities across the globe are embracing ‘sustainable’…

Design and Fund Accessible Gardens

Landscape architects incorporate Universal Design Principles into spaces to allow inclusive, accessible use. Adequate shade areas, seating, and easy to maneuver paths are some of the key elements of thoughtfully designed gardens. Community garden leaders, Firesouls, and others who may not have a design degree can create inclusive spaces using found materials and easily implemented ideas. Tailoring spaces according…

The city has been likened to a poem…

Each month in our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders and ideas advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This week we examine the aesthetic and poetic elements of civic sacred.  “The city has been likened to a poem, a sculpture, a machine. But the city is more than a…

A Sense of Surround, in person and virtually

In our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders in our communities who are advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. As you enter the Buehler Enabling Garden, you will delight in how enveloped and comfortable you feel. It is nestled on one of Chicago Botanic Garden’s nine interconnected…

Our Aging Cities, Our Aging Bodies

In our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders in our communities who are advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This month we examine the health needs of older Americans and the array of healthy experiences found in Nature Sacred spaces. Cultures over the past thousands of…

Stunning Design, Real Community Space in Singapore

In our Open Voices blog we share insight from leaders in our communities who are advancing what it means to have sacred, open green spaces in our cities. This week, we present an interview with Dr. Adrian Loo of Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.  Nature Sacred: In your role as Director of Research and…

"Today I became someone different. I made something very special come alive. A place where we could sit, think, get outside and get our minds together."

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