MLA Options Studio Field Report: LA5701 | MLA Studio Country: Calculated Restoration: Towards The Purposeful And Measured Design Of Restorative Landscapes Of High-Rise Residential Estates In Singapore

The Calculated Restoration field trips to the Singapore Botanic Gardens served as an integral component of the Master of Landscape Architecture option design studio led by tutor Ervine Lin. The studio seeks to redesign an existing high-rise public housing estate, with a focus on spaces that promote mental restoration. Two short but targeted field trips were made to the Singapore Botanic Gardens, where students explored restorative landscapes through lived experience.

From the onset, students were exposed to the various theories supporting the restorative benefits of nature exposure: attention restoration theory, the biophilia hypothesis, perceived sensory dimensions, therapeutic gardens, the contemplative landscape model, fractal geometries, and so on. However, literature cannot replace lived experience.

The first field trip was led by Dr. Angelia Sia, Deputy Director from NParks, who shared the strategies put forward to promote the salutogenic benefits of urban greening at the national scale, while introducing us to the Saraca Stream Nature Immersion Trail, Asia’s first certified forest therapy trail.

The next was a forest bathing workshop led by Ms. Yap Youmin, a pioneer of Forest Therapy from Singapore, certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, and founder of Forest with You. Here, theories and public policies were left behind, giving way to purposeful slowing down and multi-sensory engagement with the natural elements around us. The goal is to let students understand for themselves how restoration feels, in order to better design spaces for it.

Special thanks to Collaborators:

Dr. Angelia Sia, NParks
Yap Youmin, Forest with You