The Crown Sky Garden at Lurie Children's Hospital - Serenity in the Hospital


Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago has a wonderful  healing space known as the Crown Sky Garden. 

It was designed by the famed landscape architect Mikyoung Kim and features bamboo trees, trickling water, mosaic planters, an interactive translucent light wall that weaves through the garden ( it changes colors as people walk by) and carved wooden benches.


Lurie Children’s Hospital has partnered with the Center for Health Design to examine the impact of hospital design on stress levels in hospitalized children. “There has been little work on understanding the role of respite spaces in children’s hospitals,” said Paula Crown who helped fund this unique garden.


The hospital will share its findings with the Pebble Project, a group of 50 hospitals that is studying  innovations in hospital design. In my opinion, it is just a matter of time before all hospitals will incorporate nature and serenity into their overall architecture. As Joni Mitchell wrote,

"We are stardust.
We are golden.
And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." 

This short video shows the various elements of the Crown Sky Garden. It is very inspiring:








Comments

  1. Mary PrestonOctober 28, 2014 at 8:18 AM

    It's amazing! These are some stunning ideas for green urban architectural designs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan JohnsenOctober 28, 2014 at 8:40 AM

      I agree, Mary. I hope they spread their magic to all hospitals everywhere...and beyond.

      Delete

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