Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academics

Distinguished Lecture Series

Title: Restorative Gardens

Roger S. Ulrich, Ph. D.
Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning and
of Architecture and Director of the Center for Health Systems and Design
Texas A&M University

Tuesday, April 10, 2001, at 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium, Annenberg Presidential Conference Center
Texas A&M University

The belief that gardens are beneficial for people with illness dates back centuries and has appeared in widely different cultures. In Europe during the Middle Ages, for example, monasteries and hospitals often created elaborate gardens to bring pleasant distraction to the sick. Recently there has been an internationally resurgent interest in providing gardens in healthcare facilities amid increasing criticism of hospitals and clinics whose stark environments are unsuited to patients' emotional needs.

Traditionally, support for healthcare gardens was grounded on intuition, but recent scientific research suggests that gardens can actually reduce patient stress, anxiety, and pain. This presentation will describe studies performed by the presenter and his associates identifying various health-related benefits of gardens and other nature. The research that will be reviewed has influenced internationally the architecture, landscaping, and interior design of scores of major hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and recently affected the proposed national criteria for accrediting healthcare facilities. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations may, accordingly, soon require all hospitals to provide "orientation and access to nature and the outside." Slides will be shown of hospitals designed by such architects as I. M. Pei with the goal of providing access to nature.