I've Fulfilled a Dream and Built a Special Park for Mental Health Patients

If you've had the chance to visit Sheba Hospital, you've likely encountered the 'Sensory Garden' located near the children's ward. This garden is designed for children hospitalized in the ward and speaks their language—a language of developed imagination. They are exposed to a deep stimulation experience of all five senses and endless enjoyment, with a large lake and various challenging installations.

If you've wondered who initiated this unique garden, here he is: Meet Zvika Kanonitz, a landscape architect by training, who owns the 'Kav B'noff' firm based in Caesarea, employing 25 architects engaged in all existing fields of architecture.

Bloom and Nature = Health

"It all started about 13 years ago when I participated in a course given by Roger Ulrich," says Zvika. "Ulrich is a leading environmental psychologist who managed to prove that viewing a garden can accelerate recovery from surgeries and even assist in healing from infections and other illnesses. He conducted an experiment where he and his team reviewed medical records of patients who recovered from gallbladder surgery in a hospital in Pennsylvania and proved that although their data was entirely identical, those patients who lay near a window facing trees and plants recovered on average a day earlier and also required fewer painkillers and suffered fewer postoperative complications compared to those patients whose windows faced a brick wall. Even then, I began to think practically about how I want to adopt these insights for my work in Israel."

A few years after that course, Zvika completed his master's degree at the Technion, and when he needed to prepare his thesis, he knew he would work on the subject of healing gardens. "I took things a bit further than Ulrich," he says with a smile, "and chose to do my thesis not just at any hospital, but at the 'Maale Hacarmel' hospital in Haifa, which is a mental health center. I deeply engaged in all research related to insights on how to plan and approach the design of such spaces."

Very quickly, Zvika transitioned from theoretical plans to practical implementation, and in the following years, he was already asked to design most of the therapeutic gardens in the hospitals across the country. "Today, there’s a high awareness that hospitals and medical departments cause stress, and thus there is a need to ease this unpleasant feeling by establishing gardens and plants to aid in recovery," he explains.

Promoting Healing and Recovery

As mentioned, Zvika and his team designed the Sensory Garden at Sheba Hospital and also the therapeutic garden at 'Abarbanel' Hospital. They also established the maternity patio at Hillel Yaffe Hospital and are currently working on the 'Human Body Garden' along the southern front of the new Assuta Hospital in Tel Aviv. This garden will be divided into installations built according to the following organs: hair, eye, ear, nose, mouth, uvula, vocal cords, liver, small intestine, blood vessels, and even DNA and cells.

At the heart of the garden will be the heart organ enclosed in a rib cage, where two complementary installations are planned: one is a 3D structure that allows a walk inside arteries and chambers, and the other is a structure demonstrating blood flow to the heart, allowing visitors to control its operation. Additionally, there will be a water jet rising in this area to a height of 10 meters, illustrating the power of the heart pump.

Another special plan is the 'Sunrise Garden' also planned for Sheba Hospital. "The Sunrise Garden will be a garden of renewal, hope, and good morning," clarifies Zvika, "It will be a narrow and long garden offering quiet corners illuminated in sunrise colors: yellow, pink, red, and purple. It will also have a waterfall, with many suitable seating areas."

On a personal note, Zvika mentions that this planning holds a very significant added value. "There was also an instance where I happened to pass by Sheba Hospital and went up in the evening to the ward to get a close-up impression of how the garden is enjoyed. I met a parent of a child who had already been hospitalized for a month at the hospital, and he told me he goes down to the garden every night at two or three o'clock, just sits there, and draws strength. It really warmed my heart."

And Zvika has an important note for all of us: "If we just think about it, we are all affected in some way. Each one of us has some kind of mental struggle or crisis that we have to confront. We all need therapy, relaxation, and containment. While we typically don’t find ourselves hospitalized, it does not negate the fact that we need a public space that suits us. It's not available in most places, but it would do us all good to find time now and then to get out into nature and unwind. It allows us to recover from daily life and embrace both our soul and surroundings."