Healing Garden for the San Francisco Fire Department

Collaborative Project

Students in the School of Landscape Architecture created two proposals for a Healing Garden for the San Francisco Fire Department. The garden will have multiple uses. One will be as a space used by first responders during debriefing sessions after critical incident events. How should we portray a healing garden? In “Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces,” healing is defined as the process of making something whole or sound, aiding individuals in overcoming challenges, and restoring purity or integrity. This multifaceted concept encompasses physical, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. For this project, we are focusing on addressing stress and PTSD. Behavioral scientist Roger Ulric emphasizes the importance of individuals having a sense of control over their surroundings, as well as access to a variety of spaces when dealing with stress or PTSD. A well-designed healing garden can provide this by offering diverse environments – some enclosed for privacy and introspection, the setting that best supports their needs for stress relief and tranquility. To achieve these objectives, we have developed five conceptual designs that reflect our vision for therapeutic gardens. After extensive discussions and collaboration, we have consolidated our ideas into this design proposal.

Sofia Vazquez Saut / Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA)

Ronie Barrientos / MA

Francesca DeVargas / BFA

Ana Paola Hayes / MA

Yining Li / MA

Zhuokai Lyu / BA

Sofia Vazquez Saut / BFA

Yumeng Tsai / MA

Richard Whitehurst / MFA

Mark Yin / Landscape Architecture