How do landscapes keep us healthy? BLOOM is a thought provoking exhibition curated by Gweneth Leigh in partnership with the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects that demonstrates how the built environment impacts our health and well being.
Displayed throughout the exhibition are Street Furniture Australia products as well as leading landscape architecture examples from around Australia. Explored topics include:
- The role of ‘healing’ landscapes within hospitals and aged care facilities
- How schools are using the outdoors for tackling childhood obesity
- The impact of gardens within prisons
- The value of community gardens within cities
- How reclaiming roads for pedestrian use can improve the health of cities
Community gardens, pedestrian-friendly streets, and even the integration of nature into correctional facilities reveal the diverse ways that outdoor environments influence mood, behavior, and recovery. Gweneth Leigh and the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects have curated a showcase that invites us to consider how the built environment is not merely a backdrop to life, but a living, breathing partner in human health.
A key element in all these settings—often overlooked—is the role of functional, well-designed furnishings that blend into these therapeutic landscapes. Benches, planters, bike racks, and shaded seating areas all help to shape spaces that invite interaction, rest, and reflection.
Urban furnishings like a shoe storage cabinet might seem more at home indoors, but they speak to a larger principle of organization and flow—just as entryway storage helps keep homes serene and clutter-free, outdoor environments benefit from furnishings that support clarity and purpose. Whether it’s modular seating in a school courtyard or integrated shelving in a rooftop garden, furniture becomes part of the ecosystem that supports human connection and rejuvenation.
Thoughtfully designed public furniture doesn’t just serve a function; it invites people to linger, engage, and heal.
BLOOM will be held at the Gallery of Australian Design in Canberra from May 8 to June 9 2012.
