Applying FABRIC as a Tool to Understanding Architectural and Landscape Icons in a Time of Travel Restrictions

Iconic architecture and landscape architecture are most often understood through photographic media that mediates between the idea and the reality for those learning to design. The drastic lockdown responses to COVID-19 and the limitations on local and international travel highlighted the importance of the visual and the potential of the virtual. However, visual media can also be understood as systems that go far beyond a strict representation of an object. In this climate where publicity, politics, and perception play ever more crucial roles, representations of iconic architecture and landscapes increasingly blur the boundaries between the imaginary and the tangible. This paper examines the experience of iconic architecture and landscape in four iconic European cities (Paris, Barcelona, Seville, and Lisbon) as seen through the eyes of fifty postgraduate architecture, interior architecture, and landscape architecture students from New Zealand. It compares their understanding of a building or landscape from its photographic image before engaging with the physical reality. Students were asked to first identify iconic architecture and landscape, then closely analyze and document the essential qualities which established its pre-eminence. A subsequent visit to each of the places provided the opportunity for comparison and the testing of the realities and fictions of the icons themselves. Our research finds that today’s architecture students are savvy and sophisticated consumers of technology. It also presents FABRIC, a conceptual framework that offers additional scaffolding for educating design students through experiential learning in a time of travel restrictions

Indigenous Cultural Knowledge for Therapeutic Landscape Design

The meanings of place and the relationship between place and health have culturally specific dimensions. This is of particular importance for indigenous people and communities as often regarding landscape as part of a circle of life, establishing a holistic perspective about health and wellbeing. The indigenous Māori of Aotearoa/New Zealand contend that their relationship with the land shapes how the cultural, spiritual, emotional, physical, and social wellbeing of people and communities are expressed. Few studies have explored the influence of the cultural beliefs and values on health, in particular the intricate link between land and health. This chapter broadens the understanding of therapeutic landscapes through the exploration of specific cultural dimensions. It contributes to the expanding body of research focusing on the role of therapeutic landscapes and their role in shaping health, through the development of new research methods

The Role of Courtyards within Acute Mental Health Wards: Designing with Recovery in Mind

The role of courtyards and other outdoor spaces in the recovery of acute mental healthcare users has been gaining international appreciation and recognition. However, the physical properties and conditions necessary for therapeutic and rehabilitative engagement remain to be clearly established. This paper contributes to that knowledge by triangulating evidence from the literature, exemplar case studies of good practice and first-hand accounts of the experiences of staff and service users from four acute mental health facilities. The findings are then aligned with a well-established recovery framework (CHIMES) in light of existing landscape architecture knowledge. Within the complexity of varied mental health environments, this work establishes landscape architectural design requirements and qualities essential for recovery. Rather than adopting a prescriptive quantitative approach setting out areas, numbers of elements, etc., the proposed framework recommends a performance-based model and the creation of a cohesive network of microspaces that mesh into a design of outdoor areas. In this way, design details, materials, vegetation and the variety of spaces can be modified to suit service user population demographics and site-specific needs

There’s no smoke without fire: Smoking in smoke-free acute mental health wards

Background People who smoke with serious mental illness carry disproportionate costs from smoking, including poor health and premature death from tobacco-related illnesses. Hospitals in New Zealand are ostensibly smoke-free; however, some mental health wards have resisted implementing this policy. Aim This study explored smoking in acute metal health wards using data emerging from a large sociological study on modern acute psychiatric units. Methods Eighty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff and service users from four units. Data were analysed using a social constructionist problem representation approach. Results Although high-level smoke-free policies were mandatory, most participants disregarded these policies and smoking occurred in internal courtyards. Staff reasoned that acute admissions were not the time to quit smoking, citing the sceptres of distress and possibly violence; further, they found smoking challenging to combat. Inconsistent enforcement of smoke-free policies was common and problematic. Many service users also rejected smoke-free policies; they considered smoking facilitated social connections, alleviated boredom, and helped them feel calm in a distressing environment – some started or increased smoking following admission. A minority viewed smoking as a problem; a fire hazard, or pollutant. No one mentioned its health risks. Conclusion Psychiatric wards remain overlooked corners where hospital smoke-free policies are inconsistently applied or ignored. Well-meaning staff hold strong but anachronistic views about smoking. To neglect smoking cessation support for people with serious mental illness is discriminatory and perpetuates health and socioeconomic inequities. However, blanket applications of generic policy are unlikely to succeed. Solutions may include myth-busting education for service users and staff, local champions, and strong managerial support and leadership, with additional resourcing during transition phases. Smoke-free policies need consistent application with non-judgemental NRT and, potentially, other treatments. Smoking cessation would be supported by better designed facilities with more options for alleviating boredom, expressing autonomy, facilitating social connections, and reducing distress