Member Profiles 2011: Healthcare and Therapeutic Landscapes (Part 1)



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This article is the fourth in a series profiling members of ASLA’s Professional Practice Networks (PPNs), based on responses to the 2011 Annual PPN Survey. PPN members who responded to the survey highlighted therapeutic gardens on which they had worked or gave accounts of how landscapes had provided a healing benefit.

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Jack Carman, FASLA, is the president of Designs for Generations, LLC in Medford, New Jersey. In the past year, he designed and developed a therapeutic courtyard garden for patients who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions, and who are in physical therapy, cardiovascular rehabilitation, and other recovery programs. The garden includes a labyrinth, a meditation garden, and a woodland garden. The garden will also be used for research on the benefits of nature in helping people heal. Later, a conservatory will be constructed to allow therapy programs to continue throughout the year in a garden setting.

Naomi Sachs, ASLA, is the executive director of the Therapeutic Landscapes Network and a principal at Naomi Sachs Design in Beacon, New York. A significant project in the past year was volunteering her design skills at the first green hospital and clinic in Yantalo, Peru (near Moyobamba). The clinic will serve Yantalo and people in the surrounding areas. Connection with the outdoors has been part of the design program from its inception. It will include a children's garden, a garden with traditional medicinal plants, gardens just outside patient rooms, a separate staff garden, and three interior courtyard gardens.

Sachs will be coauthoring a book on healing gardens with Clare Cooper Marcus, Hon. ASLA, her colleague and mentor. Also, she will be presenting at the 2011 ASLA Annual Meeting with Jack Carman, FASLA, and Marcus on the role of water in restorative landscapes, and at the 2011 GreenBuild International Conference with Peter Schaudt, FASLA, and Zolna Russell, ASLA, on therapeutic landscapes and design.

Aris W. Stalis, ASLA, is a landscape architect at Fuss & O’Neill in Trumbull, Connecticut. Last year, his own firm completed construction for the Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk, Connecticut. There he developed site plans and a multitude of garden environments to enhance the outdoor experience for children. The project transformed the ecology by helping to cleanse stormwater and reducing the overall impact to the site. The project received LEED Gold Certification.

Christopher Ross, ASLA, is the principal at Christopher Ross, ASLA, in Gulfport, Florida. The most notable project in 2010 was the design and hands-on implementation of a garden for a retired disabled county judge and her foster family of cairn terriers. Ross found it incredibly interesting to create a place for all of them to “stroll” and “play.”

Stephen Wing, ASLA, is the owner of Stephen Wing, Landscape Architect, in Milford, Connecticut. He relayed a personal story about the healing benefits of landscapes. A neighbor, who was unemployed at the time, took a part-time position as an aide at a group home for brain-injured individuals. He found an old fishpond on the property that had been filled in. He enlisted the help of some of the home’s residents to put it back in service. He asked Wing for a few fish from his lily pond and Wing happily netted some for him. He told Wing later that one of the residents, who had been unable to talk for months, not only spoke when he saw the pond but showed enthusiasm not previously seen by the staff.

Mary J. McCawley, ASLA, is a landscape architect with HDR Architecture, Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska. She was the landscape architect for the Prayer Garden at the St. Roberts School and Church in Omaha. The project, which had its grand opening in May 2010, has been overwhelmingly embraced by the community. The spiritual healing garden is a 10,000-square-foot horseshoe-shaped courtyard surrounded by three buildings. The garden features a waterfall that spills into a stone-edged rill that terminates in a triple jet spray. The waterfall is at the edge of a grotto area that holds a religious art piece. Also featured are three other art pieces named Faith, Hope, and Love. The triad is symbolic to several other areas of the garden. A large stationary semicircular stone bench is located in the center of the garden with stone path rays that connect the bench to the artwork. The stonework, lush planting, and the symbolism of the artwork have made this setting a unique and peaceful oasis.

Jurgita Tamutyte, ASLA, is a landscape architect at Carter Van Dyke Associates in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. A highlight was presenting at the national CleanMED 2010 conference in Baltimore on "How Nature Helps to Restore Body, Mind, and Spirit." She copresented with Greg Wozniak, the president and CEO of St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, about the healing garden at his hospital. She found that his message about the benefits of the healing garden resonated more powerfully with other managers and executives than had it been presented by a landscape architect alone.

Brian Bainnson, ASLA, is a landscape architect at Quatrefoil, Inc. in Portland, Oregon. A key accomplishment last year was completing the design and construction of the new Healing Garden at Legacy Meridian Park Hospital.

Matthew Schafer, ASLA, is a landscape architect at Patti Banks Associates in Kansas City, Missouri. While attending the Therapeutic Garden Design certification program at the Chicago Botanic Garden, he was inspired by the leaders in therapeutic design. There he concluded that the principles of therapeutic design should be a fundamental component in creating sustainable sites.

Schafer now implements an approach that incorporates restorative design principles into all of his projects—not just those that are related to health care. One of his recent projects, “18Broadway,” located in downtown Kansas City, is a prime example of this philosophy. The site is a sustainable landmark that features extensive ecological stormwater filtration, native prairie plantings, a community garden, and a stormwater reuse system to irrigate the gardens. It is a healthful place that Schafer believes is appropriate for urban environments; they are not only sustainable, but provide accessible, meaningful, and restorative connections to nature.

Sue R. Steele, ASLA, is a senior designer with Bergmann Associates in Rochester, New York. A significant project in 2010 was designing a natural play environment for the Monroe Community College Child Care Center. The intent of the design was to provide a learning landscape and connect children to nature by encouraging outdoor exploration and adventure. She is currently designing a sensory garden and natural play environment for low vision and visually impaired users at the Rochester Centennial Campus for the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Maria Gidarakou, Student Affiliate ASLA, is a student in Katerini, Greece. She recently finished her first book in Greek on healing gardens, including their role, types, problems, and ways of designing and constructing them for the best use by the viewer, user, and staff.

Visit the Healthcare and Therapeutic Design PPN home page for more information about this group. To learn more about ASLA's other PPNs, go to the PPN home page or contact Rachel Shaw, ASLA's manager of Professional Practice, at rshaw@asla.org.

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