INTRODUCTION

            In this report, the whole Hope Arena project will be discussed as a design process, from project history, site analysis, to management and future plans (year 2005). Along with the general information, critical issues such as design concept, maintenance problems, and hope therapy programs (a kind of healing process) will be the main parts in this report. Among these issues, "Maintenance Problems in Operations and Management" is the most important one. What kinds of the situations change the design itself? Is it related to budget, use functions, or some political policies? I expect to outline and begin to answer these questions in this case study. Interviewing the key participants such as the designer, the garden manager, and the director of the Moody Foundation, and doing literature research of the project background are the main directions to collect the related context. There are the basic information of the project:

                                                Association of Nurseryman’s National Award

PROJECT BACKGROUND AND HISTORY

            Actually, Hope Arena is just a small part of Moody Gardens (Figure No. 1: Moody Garden) but it was the first developed site in the whole garden area. The most critical thing is that some design concepts were repeated and presented in a similar format from Hope Arena to the entire Moody Gardens. Therefore, there are two separate sections to describe the background and history of Hope Arena and Moody Gardens.

Hope Arena

            The developer, the Moody Foundation, leased the land from the local municipal government and then hired landscape architecture, construction, and architecture firms to develop a master plan of the entire Moody Gardens. The preliminary 20-year master plan was completed in September 1986. The master plan was prepared for the Moody Foundation by 1) The Moody Foundation Design Team, 2) Smith Locke Asakura (SLA) Studio Land Inc. – planner landscape architects, 3) Morris Architects – architect planners, 4) Bios Inc. – programmers, and 5) Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe – garden concept. For the Hope Arena project, only the Moody Foundation and SLA cooperating with the constructor, Buck Threlkill, participated in the whole process.

            Hope Arena is a part of Moody Gardens and located on the east side of the whole area. Before building the Moody Gardens, Hope Arena already existed and it was the first redeveloped site. In the past, the site of Moody Gardens was a military airport and before 1986, Hope Arena was a place for raising and keeping horses. In 1986, the Moody Foundation decided to redevelop Hope Arena for the use of riding horses since the son of Foundation Trustee Robert L. Moody sustained a head injury and doctors suggested horse riding therapy. This was the original motivation for changing Hope Arena into a special place of hope therapy programs – utilizing animals and nature in the healing and rehabilitation process, education, recreation, and research. The Garden of Life is an important portion of Hope Arena. This garden is the first formal garden at Moody Gardens.

 

Moody Gardens

The Site

            Moody Gardens is a tribute to the people of Texas. Through the benefaction of The Moody Foundation this botanical garden is being developed in Galveston, Texas. Actually, the site is not congenial to man for the salt marshes that teem with an independent life of their own, do not invite development of a botanical garden. Even though space is being conquered at the nearby Houston Space Center, Moody Gardens will remain on planet earth harassed by winds, hurricanes and inundations. This kind of situation creates a big challenge for development. Figures No. 2 and 3 show the site image and the model.

The Men

The concept for the overall master plan of this 142-acre botanical garden, located on a barrier island, has been developed since initial meetings in 1982. When the inception of the idea of a botanical garden began, the Trustees of The Moody Foundation were Mrs. Mary Moody Northen, the Chairman of the Board, and her two nephews, Mr. Shearn Moody, Jr., and Mr. Robert Lee Moody. Although a total team approach is present, the concept of the botanical facet of the garden was due to the desires and inspirations of Mr. Shearn Moody, Jr. whereas the therapeutic commitment of the overall complex should be attributed to his brother, Mr. Robert Lee Moody. The purpose of the proposed botanical garden project, later to be called Moody Gardens, was discussed, along with the creation of basic philosophical understandings between Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and Peter Atkins, the Director of Horticulture (The Landscape of Civilisation – created for the Moody Historical Gardens, 1989).

            Sir Geoffrey visited the United States with two of the Trustees, Shearn and his brother Robert. They toured Disney World and the special features of EPCOT Center, located near Orlando, Florida. That initial trip set the stage for what was to become the major garden emphasis at Moody Gardens. The thought developed that a botanical garden which would expose local residents and visitors to the wonders of landscape, horticulture and botany could not only be an enchancement to the quality of life of Galvestonians and the immediate region, but could also attract distant visitors to this island. Therefore, the concept of a botanical garden that is a destination facility was beginning to emerge with specific reference to worldly exposure associated with beauty and enjoyment. These concepts were going to be the mission statement of Moody Gardens.

 

SITE ANALYSIS

            Hope Arena is in the east corner of Moody Gardens. The total area is 11.3 acres including two parking lots, one arena, barn, and Japanese garden. Part of the land is in an airport approach zone and there are height restriction contours based on an assumed runway elevation of 7.0 feet above mean sea level. Therefore, all development plans in areas affected by this surface will need to be submitted to the FAA. Although Hope Arena received an ASLA Award, according to the designer’s explanation, the award is mostly for the Japanese Garden (the Garden of Life). SLA sent color photographs to the competition in 1986. And most of the photographs were taken in the Garden of Life. Therefore, in this case study report, I will focus on the garden, not the whole area of Hope Arena. Figure No. 4 (page 6) shows the aerial plan and several pictures of the Garden of Life.

Along with the Garden of Life, areas used for hope therapy include the barn,  the indoor horse riding place, a horse-training field and the offices for staffs, workers, and  volunteers of therapy programs. At present they have nine horses in the barn. These horses have to be trained thirty days before they are used for therapeutic riding. Twenty staff members  work there and twelve of them are associated with the therapeutic riding program. Actually, the main buildings have been changed since 1989. They tore down the original one and then built a  three-story building, as a new convention center.

Regarding the other changes to the site, the table below lists differences between the master plan and the existing situation. Possible future plans will be discussed at the end of this report in the section on Future Plans.

 

1986 Master Plan

Existing Situation

 

Future Plan

Arena

  • Renovate existing Hope Arena to accommodate 3500 theater type seats with an additional 1200 festival-type seats on floor
  • Reducing the size to be a small indoor riding place
  • Part of the building was changed to be convention rooms

 

No any future plans for the site plan (landscape facilities), only have various plans for therapy programs.

Japanese Garden

  • Bigger
  • Well maintained
  • Smaller
  • Changing almost all plant materials

Training Field

  • none
  • small one

 

GENESIS OF THE PROJECT

            In 1986, Hope Arena was redeveloped for the use of hope therapy. Hope therapy was inspired by the son of Foundation Trustee Robert L. Moody. He sustained a head injury in an automobile accident and who subsequently discovered the miraculous healing powers of therapy utilizing animals and nature. Therapeutic riding is the use of the horse as a therapeutic tool which facilitates clients’ achievement of physical, mental, and emotional goals. Hippotherapy, a facet of Therapeutic Riding, literally means, "treatment with the help of a horse". It refers to the use of the horse as a therapeutic tool in which the horse’s gait simulates a human gait to

improve balance, coordination, and self-confidence. Opening in January 1986, Hope therapy became the cornerstone of Moody Gardens, an internationally recognized program offering rehabilitative horseback-riding (Hippotherapy) to mentally and physically disabled individuals. They also further expanded to include an animal-assisted therapy and horticultural therapy.

 

DESIGN/DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Design Concept

            After interviewing the project designer, Keiji Asakura, I understood that the most part of he Hope Arena was designed for certain functions, such as warm-up and loading area, parking lots and offices. The Japanese Garden, also called the Garden of Life has a strong concept in its design. This first formal garden at Moody Gardens, is Japanese inspired and brings to mind gardens that are basically simple, contemplative and contain symbolism. The earliest gardens in Japan were part of temples and palaces. These hallowed enclosures and paradises were sacred and neither ordinary folk nor ordinary plants were allowed. The Garden of Life is an allegory or a fantasy tale of life. Suggestion is a key word in the Japanese garden, an art-form already infinitely sophisticated. This includes various symbols:

o        Man and woman (the granite runnel-fountain)

o        Longevity (pine trees)

o        Rocks (religious symbols and obstacles)

o        Life (the pink side of the portal)

o        The transition (the portal constriction)

o        Death (the black side of the portal)

o        Afterlife and longevity (the koi)

The intent of this space is to acquaint visitors with the beautiful wonders of a very inspiring garden setting. Contained in this special place are textures, smells and visions reminiscent of an oriental garden. The visiting experience that the designer tried to create of the garden could be described below:           

Design Details

            About design details, Figure No. 5 shows the detailed site plan. Figures 6 and 7 are the cross sections and a perspective. Besides, there are some unusual materials used in the garden. Unusual stone materials include:

o        Pennsylvania Blue Stone

o        Idaho Quartzite

o        Slate

o        Texas Pink Granite

Unusual plant material planted in this garden include:

o        Japanese Cedar                        (Cryptomeria japonica)

o        Chinese Parasol Tree    (Firmiana simplex)

o        Maidenhair Tree                       (Ginkgo biloba)

o        Japanese Black Pine     (Pinus thunbergiana)

o        Japanese Sweet Flag    (Acorus gramineus c.v. variegatus) (Xylosma congestum)

o        Giant Timber Bamboo  (Phyllostachys bambusoides)

Communication with Clients

            During the design process, the most difficult part was the communication with clients. According to the designer, basically, the Moody Foundation accepted all of his design ideas. However, conflicts originated between the clients themselves. The main directors of the foundation were two brothers, Shearn Moody and Robert Moody. Unfortunately, they did not get along very well. The idea of Hope Arena came from Robert Moody and the Moody Garden idea came from Shearn Moody. However, Shearn Moody signed the Hope Arena design contract between Moody Foundation and SLA. During the design and development process, when even the budget was not a problem, the conflicts between two brothers became a major obstruction.

ROLE OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT

            Since no architects were involved in the development of Hope Arena, landscape architect Keiji Asakura played a major role in the design and development process. His concern was design, rather than sociology or political issues. He wanted the design to reflect the function and meaning of the site.

            Another critical role was the garden concept designer, Sir. Geoffrey Jellicoe. His concept, matured and enriched by sixty years of teaching, study and practice, is the history of mankind from myth through humanism to the disorientation of the present-day, interpreted and expressed through the design of gardens and landscape. Actually, the entire Moody Gardens contain Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe’s conceptualization of how man has evolved and demonstrates this concept through landscape. The purpose is: "not just to give the visitor the feeling of history; not just to show beauty; not just the thrill of being close to waterfalls and the immediate excitement of the fragrances and wonders of a botanical garden. But, hopefully, what the visitor will get is something that heretofore he or she has never experienced. The true ethos, the true meaning of what we are about to put into the ground, is a demonstration of the philosophies of civilizations from the beginning through the nineteenth century. This has never been done before in a botanical setting." (The Landscape of Civilisation – created for the Moody Historical Gardens, 1989).

MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT

            After visiting the site, I found that there is a big difference in Japanese Garden between the original design and the actual situation. The whole size was reduced by cutting part of the north and east sides to accommodate new construction adjacent to the garden. The pathway was changed. Plantings are totally different and it seems not well-maintained in the pond area: pipelines come out, and the stone paving needs repair. Figure No. 8 illustrates several photos to compare the difference between year 1986 and year 2000.

            SLA has not had any contracts with the Moody Foundation since 1991. The main reason was related to a corrupt event. At that time, Shearn Moody used the public money for private use and was sent to jail for a while. When the corrupt event happened, any contracts signed by Shearn Moody were stopped. Now the foundation staffs take care of the all maintenance and management work of Hope Arena. They never use SLA to be their consultant and it is probably the reason that the Japanese Garden has changed so much. Additionally, building the new convention center made the garden change a lot. Widening the adjacent vehicle roads had to reduce the garden and also disturbed the peaceful feeling of the garden that was the original desire of the landscape designer. It is a pity that I did not have any chances to talk to the garden maintainer so the answers to maintenance problems are unknown.

FUTURE PLANS

            In fact, there are not future site development plans for Hope Arena. However, various plans of therapy programs are considered. Now Hope therapies include 1) Therapeutic Riding, 2) Animal Assisted Therapy, and 3) Horticulture Therapy. Their belief is that the three programs and the unique environment accept the individual unconditionally and foster motivation. This same environment can also lend itself to enhance pre-vocational and vocational training opportunities for persons with disabilities. In the future, they plan to increase these therapy resources including workers, volunteers, and facilities for Animal Assisted Therapy and Horticulture Therapy programs, such as Innovation in Community Care of the Elderly, and a Seniors’ Garden.

EXPERIENCE GAINED

REFERENCE