For centuries, landscape architects, architects, and urban planners have been designing outdoor green spaces for one to contemplate. In today’s urban realm, we can understand a contemplative space more specifically as one joining esthetic and environmental values with mental health benefits for its visitors. So far, the concept of contemplativeness of a space has not been operationalized and a definitive list of design principles of such a space has not been developed. In response to this gap of knowledge, we have identified a set of features that may be used in order to design and create a space of contemplation within seven categories: Landscape Layers, Landform, Vegetation, Light and Color, Compatibility, Archetypal Elements, and a Character of Peace and Silence. The developed framework is based on development and analysis of a Contemplative Landscape Questionnaire. This instrument was developed based on literature review and Delphi expert evaluation of multiple landscapes. The statistical tests on the Contemplative Landscape Questionnaire revealed satisfactory reliability and validity measures, which provided evidence-based support for the efficacy of designed spaces. This approach could enhance the practice of landscape architects and urban designers by reinforcing intuition-based designs with scientific evidence. The developed framework can also serve to identify contemplative spaces for subsequent research purposes.

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This paper presents an interdisciplinary study joining insights of landscape architecture and computer vision. In this work we used a dataset of contemplative landscape images that was collected and evaluated by experts in landscape architecture. We used the dataset to develop nine kmeans clustering and one K-nearest neighbors models that are able to score landscape images based on seven different landscape image features (layers, landform, vegetation, color and light, compatibility, archetypal elements, character of peace and silence) that were identified as contributing to the overall contemplativeness of a landscape. Finally, we chose the combination of models that would produce the best combined contemplativeness score and created CLASS a scoring system that can evaluate the contemplativeness of landscape images with scores similar to those of experts. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable input to the quality of the paper. They are also grateful to the European Program for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE Program) for funding that enabled our international team to work together.

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STRESZCZENIENiniejszy artykuł omawia koncepcję ogrodów terapeutycznych przy ośrodkach opieki dla pacjentów z chorobami neurodegeneracyjnymi, takimi jak choroba Alzheimera i demencje. Opisano sposób, w jaki projektowanie takich przestrzeni może wyjść na przeciw specyficznym potrzebom mieszkańców i opisuje najnowsze badania dotyczące wytycznych dla projektowania ogrodów w pobliżu szpitali, ośrodków medycznych i domów spokojnej starości. Przegląd literatury zestawiono z wynikami najnowszych badań na temat wpływu różnych rozwiązań zaprojektowanych w krajobrazie na aktywność mó-zgu. Zgodnie z tymi badaniami, przestrzenie charakteryzujące się zgodnością projektu, przejrzystym systemem komunikacji i sygnalizacji, wprowadzeniem elementów archetypowych oraz nacisk na szereg wizualnych niuansów, mogą być szczególnie korzystne dla pacjentów z chorobami neurodegeneracyjnymi.Słowa kluczowe: Alzheimer, architektura, demencja, krajobrazu, neurodegeneracyjne, ogrody, projektowanie, terapeutyczne. s p a c e & FORM | p r z e s t r z e ń i FORMa '25_2016 ABSTRACTThis paper explores the concept of therapeutic gardens surrounding healthcare institutions treating neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Dementias. It focuses on how the design of such spaces can address the specific needs of residents, and describes the recent studies concerning the most relevant guidelines for therapeutic garden design near hospitals, medical centers, and retirement homes. The literature study is compared with results of our recent study on the brain response to different landscapedesign features. According to which an outdoor space with a high level of design compatibility, inward space composition, a clear communication and signage system, while introducing archetypal elements and factoring several visual nuances, can be especially beneficial for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

The aim of the study was to present the modifications of strength athletics, enabling the competitors to achieve maximal muscular stimulations, leading to the development of specific strength in large muscle groups. The application goal was also determined, involving presentation of exercise sets used in strength sports and combat sports, developing specific strength in major muscle groups, particularly considering the tempo of exercising in each training sub-periods. The reference sources are reviewed as well as the earlier publications, describing the basic modalities of strength athletics. The versions of this approach connected with methodical recommendations of Polish Strength Athletics School, established by Augustyn Dziedzic are also presented. Each variant of strength athletics is described in terms of its usefulness for developing maximal strength, anaerobic endurance, mastering motor habits (techniques), applying exercises which have a similar or a more complex structure than these previously applied and a fast tempo of exercising. Tempo variations are attributed to each sub-period of the training cycle, considering the frequency of application and exercise sets, aimed at the development of large muscle groups are presented. It is emphasized that strength athletics should be regarded as a set of approaches, which, regularly applied, allow considerable increases of maximal muscular strength, anaerobic endurance and mastering motor habits. It has been confirmed that the application of different modalities of exercising tempo not only enriches their resources, but also can increase muscular strength and power, significantly contributing to the improvement of athletic performance in combat sports.