The Healing Potential of Garden Landscapes at Qajar Era’s

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. in Architecture, Faculty of Architecture & Urbanism, Qazvin Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.

2 PhD Candidate of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art & Architecture, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Associate Professor of Urbanism, Faculty of Urbanism, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

A review of the studies conducted by researchers on the mutual effect of human being and environment shows that not only the environmental changes does not lead human being into mental equilibrium and recovery, but also they foment this crisis over and over. This survey emphasizes on the effects of a natural landscape on human physical and mental health. Considering that the landscape is a healing element which reduces the tension and helps to return the human physical and mental health, the aim of this survey is to identify the effects healing level of Iranian garden at the Qajar dynasty on human health. Iranian garden art moves the human closer to the nature and prepares the ground for him to get rid of daily stress and pressure. The principal of healing role of a landscape is to create a natural and healthy environment which helps people to overcome their physical difficulties, calms down in bad conditions, increases their cheerfulness, and generally accelerates their health and soundness. Qajarian garden art, which is the touchstone for todays park designing , can be opportunity to reflect effective components of on citizens’ health in a contemporary urban landscaping. Our methodology has included librarian study and survey, observation, and registration of data related to the statistical population and their testing by questionnaires. Preferences of the visitors of three Qajarian gardens were gathered by a questionnaire concerning to the effects of four garden components (plant, water, artificial elements, and landform) on human health. The  questionnaires were analyzed using Access software in four criteria of feeling, physiology, cognition, and behavior healing. Analysis of the criteria demonstrates that there is a close relationship between landscape and human heath, in a way that the human being is more inclined to return to the natural than artificial environment. While there were not many  different preferences between the three types of garden, each of these gardens can be considered as a healing landscape, according to experimental results of the survey. In describing  the specification of the healing and medical landscapes, the recognition of the medical and healing features was evaluated by an empirical experiment. Due to lack of studies and researches for the empirical evidences to recognition of the healing values, in the present study we try to evaluate and study 4 criteria of Haan Theory to measure effective factors of the Garden on Human Health. Han in his theory has categorized the criteria in one level, but the finding of present study reveal that the criteria affecting the   health of the visitors are emotional, behavioral, cognitive and physiologic, respectively. Because the features of the emotional criteria are tangible (Happy - Depressed, Energetic  Tired, good tempered – bad tempered, self-confident –hesitant and uncertain, Calm- anxious) so they will be placed at first priority and in the next step the behavioral criterion  which represents the tendency of a person in relation to the environment will be placed. The cognitive criterion which results in absorbing the visitors will be placed in the third position and finally the effects on the physiologic treatment and healing will be possible. Therefore it seems that among the constituent factors of Garden, the plant has the most powerful effects on the people health and will be the most obvious on the emotional criterion. Moving water in the Garden, results in a beautiful sound will induce the freshness feeling in the mind and soul of people. Only water can have these significant effects on treatment and healing of the people, which leads to more tendencies of visitors to stay in Garden. The synthetic elements which result in the spatial diversity in Iranian Garden, despite creating a calm environment, can provide a social environment and also an opportunity for the visitors to have new experiences; therefore, the most effective one among the emotional healing criteria is this factor. The discipline resulted from Garden Paths is the main feature of the visual leading for the visitors, increases the mental safety for the visitors; and this safety will be represented in positive response of people to their emotional criteria. As it was mentioned, the constituent factors of Qajar Garden result in forming a social environment in the Garden. They also have positive effects on the human health. In order to make the finding of the present study more applicable in designing the  parks and Civil Landscapes, the extent effects of landscape factors related to the treatment and healing criteria are presented at the end of this study. 

Keywords


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