Terra began the design of this family-focused interactive woodland trail almost eight years ago, so you can imagine our excitement to have been able to join approximately 100 Garden Members in celebrating its long-awaited opening!
Design never happens in a straight line, and because the master plan for the entire Garden had to adjust due to environmental cleanup operations, so too did the theme and purpose of the Garden of the Five Senses. It began as one station among many along the Family Moments Trail that invited families to explore Penn’s Woods (native PA woodlands) and the forests of England, Eastern Europe and Asia. Coined “The Root of the Matter”, its focus was the exploration of the forest floor through the eyes of a child. Eventually, due to a change in the location of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s main entrance, it became a sensory trail for children and their caregivers, with special attention to those families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The opening of the Garden of the Five Senses is our first during the pandemic. The limited number of participants wearing masks and distancing did not dampen the excitement of the day. Terra, a Pittsburgh-based landscape architecture studio, could not have been prouder to have helped bring a family destination to our hometown that aims, through play, to connect children and their grownups to their green world. Design team members included Margittai Architects, Iams Consulting, and CEC.