LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/120967
Right The walled garden has an intriguing fractal gate inlaid with native black locust wood. At its center is an impressionistic heart. The four elements��� earth, air, fire, and water���are represented in the garden. ���Fire��� in the landscape is represented by such planting as the lurid red ���Hot Papaya��� and orange ���Sunset��� coneflowers (Echinacea) (left), uplit ���Diane��� witch-hazel (right), and a lava inspired bronze fire ring sculpture (fabricated by O���Keefe Casting) lit with orange LEDs. Above Shielded tree-mounted 3K LED luminaires (from Winona) splash shadows of leaf, bract and branch onto the heated granite labyrinth. Species include sweet gum, fern leaf beech and London plane trees. The ultimate client ��� the cancer patient or a distraught loved one needed an archetypal island, a separate oasis ��� a ���somewhere else instead.��� The garden descends gradually below street level with integrated wall and railing to create a gentle sense of separation from the street. The walled garden has a delightful fractal gate inlaid with native black locust wood, creating an impressionist heart where one touches the gate to pass into the garden. Above the garden are eight stories of room-bound patients able to look down to the garden for positive distractions. The emotional well being of patients plays an important role in healing. Views of nature, seasonal changes and colored lighting at night contribute to creating healing patient focused care. The Labyrinth A granite labyrinth for walking meditation is located at the center of the garden. As an archetypal 72 Landscape Architect and Specifier News symbol, the mysterious winding path that takes one to the center becomes a metaphor for one���s journey with cancer. With its opening beckoning an invitation, the labyrinth is a walking meditation tool engaging the right brain. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has a single path (unicursal) in and out. A maze could cause anxiety. Just following the curving path leads one to the center and back out again. Editor���s note: According to Through the Labyrinth (2000), seven-course unicursal labyrinth designs were depicted as early as 430 B.C. on Greek coins. The labyrinth provides opportunities for organized programs by hospital staff and self-initiated walks by any who visit the garden. My best test groups are children. They walk, well, more often run, the labyrinth with glee and excitement. Studies show that walking a labyrinth at any age lowers one���s heart rate and blood pressure. The experience of a labyrinth,