The garden of the Labyrinth | Roberto Bacchilega

The project to enhance the garden dell 'Istituto Scientifico Romagnolo for the Study and Treatment of Cancer (IRST) is inspired by the concept of Healing Gardens, and was developed in order to promote the psychological well-being of patients, families, visitors and health personnel who works in the structure.
The space had no pre-existing feature due to a healing garden, then, to make therapeutic garden, have created the conditions for three fundamental modes of fruition, deemed essential to obtain beneficial effects:
- The passive use: just being in the green;
- The use sensory interact with the green through the senses;
- The active fruition: perform an activity in the countryside

For the passive use has acted on accessibility to the garden, that is the possibility to enter with any condition of the ground to reach small areas to stay in the contemplation of nature and its rhythms, socialize, but also stand alone in moments of recollection.
For the enjoyment sensory has worked mainly on vegetation, bringing colors, scents, textures, the beauty and symbolism of flowers, the colors of the leaves, all to provide positive distractions and different views depending on the season.
The garden contains a further IRST element "beneficial" that meets the need for active fruition: the maze .
This is not the maze in which we used to think, that is the one made of high hedges with multiple paths, within which it is easy to get lost. It is a "unicursal labyrinth", that is, with only one entrance and one path leading to the center and back again to exit; there are no obstacles to the full perception of its shape.
The labyrinth is an archetype, an ancient geometric pattern based on spirals and circles that are often observed in nature and is a symbol detectable in cultures around the world. Since ancient times, human beings have used this tool as an initiatory path and practice to meditate and find peace and serenity; benefits on the human psyche were recently rediscovered by several clinical studies.
In the maze of IRST is simple walk without the worry of getting lost or not see where you are going and while the body is busy in this natural movement, the mind is calm, the internal tensions are loosened and you are immersed totally in nature.
It is a classical labyrinth seven circuits, the length of the path 200 m, 50 cm width, made of cement draining Italcementi.