MIND OVER MATTER

Any visit to a hospital or clinic can seem frightening, all the more so for children afflicted with autism. The slightest disturbance in their surroundings might lead to an emotional “meltdown.” So when Hammel, Green and Abrahamson designed the Medical Investigations of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (M.I.N.D.) Institute at the University of California Davis Medical Center, they applied a heightened sensitivity to the user experience. Next week writer Brian Libby will explain what resulted.

A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY

Visiting Village Homes for the first time, one is struck by how different it looks from the rest of Davis, California. While many of the houses are similar, the character of the community is unique. Streets are narrower, and parking is less visually dominant. Arriving by bike or on foot, you see the neighborhood from a green network of continuous paths with native and edible vegetation. Next week we'll see how this community, built in the 1970s, has fared over the decades.