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Martha M. Tyson, MLA, BLA is the author of The Healing Landscape: Therapeutic Outdoor Environments (McGraw-Hill 1998), co-author of Alzheimer’s Treatment Gardens with John Zeisel (in Cooper-Marcus Barnes – Healing Gardens 1999) and most recently, Naturally Mapped Outdoor Environments and Independence in the Therapeutic Environments issue of Alzheimer’s Care Quarterly (2002). She has written numerous articles and facilitated workshops and lectures on design process and healing gardens at national conferences and universities including the University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Symposium on Healthcare Design. Her person-centered philosophy applies classic design theory, cognitive mapping and the study of human behavior to guide groups through the process of creating restorative outdoor places for people in a range of health care settings. Martha received a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1987 and a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and Environment Behavior Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1992. With over fifteen years of professional experience Martha is the designer of special needs gardens for hospitals, assisted living residences, skilled care facilities, schools and private homes. She is currently writing a book on participatory design process and using natural mapping to design outdoor environments for people with brain related illness.
DESIGN PROCESS WORKSHOPS Participation is the spirit of the process. Design is more than lines on paper. It involves the study of human nature, of common activities and specific treatment outcomes and finally the elements and composition that create experiences that help to heal us collectively and individually. Creating environments that have a positive effect on our emotions means reducing the possibility for encountering stress or anxiety and increasing the opportunity for familiarity, enjoyment and respite. Good design seamlessly merges function, usability, comfort and beauty. What is Essential to Good Design? Donald Norman, author of Emotional Design and The Design of Everyday Things offers this insight on the importance of understanding people and common sense: Good design means that beauty and usability are in balance. Your landscape may include a campus master plan, a signature style that reflects your mission and quality of care, parking lots, entry gardens, parkways and pathways leading through your property, landscapes that are distant and gardens that reflect life indoors, places for planting, working, playing and resting. Three Words to Consider: People, Program and Place. People - Who will directly and indirectly benefit from access to the outdoor area? Program - How will you use the gardens and the realm between inside and out? Place - Where will you locate gardens and how will they support your program? Creating your designs and gardens can be as much a part of the experience as viewing the landscape from indoors, walking the garden path, sitting under a tree, working the soil, tending to plants or harvesting herbs. Participation is the intangible component that is essential to the success of your projects. We invite participation at all levels: administrators, residents/patients, therapists, nurses, operations staff, family members and people from the local community, including garden clubs and other volunteer organizations.
Anchor Health Properties & Capital Health Systems, Hamilton Township, NJ. PROJECTS Pro Healthcare – Angels Grace Hospice Gardens, Oconomowoc, WI
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