Healing Gardens: Humanizing The Design Of Modern Hospitals

In concert with scientific developments regarding the efficacy of nature as a tool for healing, there has been a shift in how architects are approaching the design of urban hospitals to implement nature into their circuitry. This paper will be divided into three parts and each will contribute towards the main question of the thesis: How has architecture and nature been used in the past and present in health care and are their effects on the patient’s experience significant? The first part will look at the architectural theory, Functionalism, and its role in the humanizing of architecture Secondly, literature that focuses on the restorative effects of gardens and nature on the body and mind will be examined. In the final part, I plan to explore the theoretical framework behind humans’ inclination and responsiveness to nature, patient responsiveness and outcomes from interactions with green space, and lastly, the design features for green spaces which are most conducive for healing. The conclusions reached are that exposure to nature and gardens are highly beneficial to an individual’s health outcomes. The inclusion of healing gardens is a reflection of human-oriented design, a quality of modern functionalism. Architects should place the human at the center of their design objectives and tailor their blueprints to accommodate the individual.