1/2017

Research on healing gardens

On December 6, our doctoral student Kadri Maikov defended her PhD thesis „Exploring the salutogenic properties of the landscape: from garden to forest." Around the world, there is more and more interest in the impact of the physical environment on people’s health and wellbeing, and green areas are seen as suitable environment for rehabilitation and recharging.

Nowadays when the artificial structures predominate in urban environment the presence of nature and its elements becomes a crucial factor in providing well-being for city inhabitants. In her thesis, Kadri addresses the theme of landscape as a healing resource, and asks the questions what the landscape properties and elements that promote well-being are, how to identify and integrate them into landscape architectural projects. The findings are a valuable base for further research in this subject involving more concepts that explain not only the environmental perceptual level but also the use of qualities of nature and man-made elements such as colour, shape, size, texture etc. in healing process, as well as healing properties of definite plant species and social aspect – gardening and other activities.

Currently the principles of healing gardens are in use for example at Sillamäe Rehabilitation Center for Drug Addicts.

Landscape Architecture Deed of the Year Award

In December, the Estonian Architecture Award ceremony was held in Tallinn. Four institutions gave out their prizes: Landscape Architects’ Union, Architects’ Union, Interior Architects Union and Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Estonian Landscape Architects Union award Landscape Architecture Deed of the Year was given to outdoor space magazine ÕU, edited by three landscape architects: Anna-Liisa Unt, Karin Bachmann and Merle Karro-Kalberg, all of whom are alumni of Department of Landscape Architecture. According to Merle, they have been publishing outdoor space magazine ÕU since 2009. „We established the magazine to fill the gap we felt there was when writing and thinking about landscape architecture and outdoor public and private space. By today we are not writing strictly about landscape architecture, but more about urban and outdoor culture.“ Among authors there are writers, architects, landscape architects, engineers, geographers, photographs, urbanists, art historians etc.

See the broadcast that introduces the choice of winners of the year's annual architectural awards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEsvU8oSfuQ

 

Winter time – celebration time

Tartu is a lively university city, but it is a Northern city as well. The cold season has an important impact on student life by not only acquiring warmer clothes, but also understanding the bigger need for cosiness, togetherness and enjoyment. The party season of the landscape architecture students starts usually starts around Halloween, where the party is organized by our students and the landscape architecture students union in their social room. It culminates right before Christmas, when the Christmas/semester-ending/years-ending event takes place. The international background of many students guarantees a special spirit of many cultural influences, with different ways to celebrate and ways of preparing gifts or food, but the uniqueness comes from our teaching staff members being important performers in it… Among the DJs this year were teacher Friedrich Kuhlmann and researcher Adrian Rybchynski, while Father Christmas – ‘Jouluvana’ in Estonian - was staged by our departments head Simon Bell.