RETHINKING HEALING GARDENS IN SINGAPORE'S HOSPITALS

Abstract

The positive effects of nature are accepted by most people since the 17th centuries. The inclusion of gardens in hospital designs or the early healing temples are not coincidental and could be related back to medical theories such as the Miasma Theory of Disease. Although the Miasma theory of disease has since been debunked, there is increasing interest and research in healing gardens and the implicit benefits of nature in recent years. However, hospitals today are seeing less and less of garden spaces and increasing emphasis placed on facilities and services. This is hypothesize to be due to a shift in the way people perceive nature and hence the disparity in head knowledge of the benefits of nature and the physical realization activities in nature. The paper discusses first the relevant theories of healing environments and environmental perceptions and how these theories are relevant to the Singapore context. This is followed by a study of the general hospitals in Singapore on their background and building typology with respect to the gardens. Participant observation will shed light on the current usage of gardens and the activities happening in them. Discussion of user-centric elements and current perception of nature will then lead to the suggestions of what is the preference of a Singaporean towards nature today and how better it will be for the gardens to relate to them. The attitude of Singaporeans’ towards nature is no longer one of romanticizing of the natural environment. The healing effects as proven by researchers are hardly felt by the lay person and hence have little enticement for urbanites to gravitate towards nature. We have been socialized to engage nature with respect to the activities we enjoy in them. Beyond the physical functions the space provides, the gardens or parks have little association with nature. Therefore, gardens in hospitals cannot just be of ornamental value but one that has cognitive relation of function so as to attract the people into it before any healing could take place.