Earth Sanctuary: A Nature Reserve, Meditation Parkland and Sculpture Garden

Laurie Clark recently wrote an essay for her University of Washington Environmental Psychology course, “The Human Experience of Place.”  Her essay reveals some of the design principles that we have used at Earth Sanctuary, including the use of repeating elements in plantings, textures and colors; the interplay of stone, trees and plants; and “mystery, the promise that we can learn more as we move through a space.”  She calls attention to the manipulation of particular views to increase the sense of depth and “make the observer feel as though he is in a different world.”  She says, “Earth Sanctuary is what Carr, Francis, Rivlin and Stone (from “The Value of Space,” in Public Space: Human Qualities of the Public Environment) define as a ‘meaningful space’ in that it allows visitors to make strong connections between it and their personal lives and the larger world.” 

I encourage you to read her essay in full.