RESEARCH
Therapeutic Gardens for Oncology Hospital. Architectural Students Proposals to Alleviate Stress in Healthcare Environment Created During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Summary
This paper explores the use of therapeutic gardens as a method to alleviate the heavy stress burden on medical staff, caregivers, and patients in healthcare environments, particularly focusing on oncology settings. Recognizing the historical awareness of nature’s healing properties and drawing on the theory of therapeutic landscapes, which emphasizes the combination of material, social, and spiritual values to promote holistic health, the study highlights the re-emerging scientific interest in the beneficial effects of contact with nature. The research underscores that while any garden can potentially promote health, therapeutic gardens are specifically intentionally programmed and designed to offer therapeutic benefits. They share values with therapeutic landscapes, striving to unite material, social, and spiritual elements for the holistic health of patients, families, and staff.
The study design involved an architectural student competition where students from the University of Science and Technology in Bydgoszcz developed design proposals for therapeutic gardens for the Oncology Centre in Bydgoszcz – Fordon. This design studio was conducted remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring semesters of 2020 and 2021, with students working individually. The objective was to create integrated proposals for interior winter gardens and exterior spaces, addressing areas like an unfinished winter garden, a nearby forest, and a vast parking lot. The student proposals were presented online, and an architectural competition was organized in both years where “internauts,” including students, faculty, medical staff, patients, families, and inhabitants, voted anonymously online for their preferred solutions. The results of this voting provided insights into preferences for therapeutic solutions and qualities.
