Joy Yang

The original idea of Econa Garden came from Joy Yang's Ph.D. research when she was in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech. The original idea came from the ancient manuscript (2000-3000 ago), Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine, which is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine. Joy Yang proposed a solution to the challenge landscape architects faced today: how to use the medicine knowledge into therapeutic garden design. She published a journal article on how to use traditional Chinese medicine principles into therapeutic garden design with Dr. Patrick Miller and Dr. Binyi Liu together.

Unique among those in this profession, Joy Yang possesses professional knowledge in both landscape architecture and medicine. She was a Chinese medicine doctor in China with working experiences in different hospitals and retirement homes. Joy holds an MLA (Master of Landscape Architecture) from Virginia Tech, and is a member of ASLA (American Society in Landscape Architects) and PPN (professional practice group of landscape architecture in therapeutic garden design).  She won a design Merit Award from ASLA in 2009.  Joy is also a Licensed Acupuncturist in the State of Virginia, and certified by NCCAOM.

BinYi Liu is a renowned landscape architect in China. He is a professor and Chairman of the Department of Landscape Studies, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, China; and the vice president of the Landscape Society of Shanghai.  He is one of the most famous landscape architects in China.  On account of his contribution, he was honored by American Society of Landscape Architects as an Honorary Member since 1994.  He has published 10 books and more than 200 articles, including the one about the integration of landscape architecture and traditional Chinese medicine with Joy Yang.  He and his team have conducted and completed more than 100 landscape planning and design projects, many of them with multi-million dollars budgets.