Study Guide Unit 1: The Parks Movement: Urban Parks & Public Lands LARC 4413 History of Landscape Architecture II

Jean-Charles-Adolph Alphand

- Landscape architect in France - Bois de boulogne - Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

Central Park (& major subspaces)

"Greensward Plan" 1858 Calvert Vaux & Frederick Law Olmsted - "A piece of country in the city" - (Columbus Circle, Grand Army Plaza, The Mall, Transverse Road #1, Sheep Meadow, The Lake, Transverse Road #2, The Ramble, Bethesda Terrace) - Leap from small-scale, private sites to large-scale, public areas that could impact millions of people in a positive way. It demonstrated the roles of both function and aesthetics, and the way in which a park provided social, environmental, and economic opportunities in the city. It also brought publicity and popularity to the services that a landscape architect could offer.

Parks movement in U.S. - 19th Century

- Olmsted and Vaux - Central park and Prospect Park - Moving away from cemeteries, places for the people to get away during the industrial revolution - English landscape style, beautiful and picturesque

Charles Eliot

- Boston Area Metropolitan Parks System - His father made the first Landscape Architecture program at Harvard

Rural romantic cemetery movement

- Cemeteries were cleaned up for sanitation issues - Became popular places for hangin out

Parks movement in U.S. - Early 20th Century

- Industrial reforms lead to shorter workweeks, longer vacations, and increased leisure time - Automobiles increase ability to escape the city, changing the role of the parks (movement away from tranquil, naturalized settings to recreational entertainment centers) - Park systems consisting of large pastoral parks, small neighborhood parks, large outlying reservations, playgrounds, boulevards and parkways, city squares and public gardens become the norm and an expected part of civic infrastructure - Naturalistic pastoral and picturesque styles remain popular in large parks, but Beaux-Arts/City Beautiful-inspired elements also become common (zoos, gardens) - Increase in emphasis on active recreation, including playgrounds, physical exercise, organized sports, and field houses - Park designed by landscape architects peaks in the early 1900s then wanes as demand for residential design increases and park design needs are handled in house by city employees

Prairie style

- Regional approach to landscape design developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - Celebrated the open character, horizontal expanse, and native vegetation of the Midwest - Landscape spaces were organized as a sequence of outdoor rooms and views, emphasizing the interaction of sky and landscape - Plantings featured horizontally-branched native trees and shrubs such as hawthorn - Water features emulated natural streams, lakes and wetlands of the region - Layered limestone was used in retaining walls that imitated natural rock outcroppings - The "Prairie Style" was first described in 1915 by Wilhelm Miller in The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening and featured in the work of Ossian Cole Simonds, Jens Jensen, and Alfred Caldwell

Thomas Vint

- Replaced assistant landscape engineer Kiessig in 1922 - Replaced Hull in 1927 as Chief Landscape Architect, later Chief Architect - 40 years years at NPS - developed a Master Plan system to guide all future planning for each park

Seven S's of Olmsted Design

- Scenery: Creation of designs that give an enhanced sense of space, indefinite boundaries, constant opening up of new views - Suitability: Creation of designs that are in keeping with the natural scenery and topography of the site - Style: Designing primarily in the "Pastoral" style for a soothing, restorative atmosphere, or in the "picturesque" style for a sense of the richness and the bounteousness of nature - Subordination: Subordination of all elements, all features and objects, to the overall design and the effect it is intended to achieve - Separation: Separate areas designed in different styles, so that an "incongruous mixture of styles" will not dilute the intended effect of each - Sanitation: Provision for adequate drainage and other engineering considerations. Planning of designs so that they promote both the physical and mental health of users - Service: planning of designs so that they will serve a "purpose of direct utility or service;" that is, will meet fundamental social and psychological needs.

Parks movement in Europe

- Started with Birkenhead - Parks were a business venture for the rich

Clavert Vaux

- Worked alongside Olmsted

Gifford Pinchot

- first Chief Forester & a leader of the conservationist school of thought

10 Labor Classifications in the CCC

1. Structural Improvements: bridges, fire lookout towers, service buildings 2. Transportation: truck trails, minor roads, foot trails and airport landing fields 3. Erosion Control: check dams, terracing and vegetable covering; 4. Flood Control: irrigation, drainage, dams, ditching, channel work, riprapping 5. Forest Culture: planting trees and shrubs, timber stand improvement, seed collection, nursery work 6. Forest Protection: fire prevention, fire fighting, insect and disease control 7. Landscape and Recreation: public camp and picnic ground development, lake and pond site clearing and development 8. Range: stock driveways, elimination of predatory animals 9. Wildlife: stream improvement, fish stocking, food and cover planting 10. Miscellaneous: emergency work, surveys, mosquito control

John Claudius Loudon

1783 - 1834 - Derby Arboretum - Coined the term gardenesque

Sir Joseph Paxton

1803 - 1865 - Birkenhead Park - Crystal palace for the World's Fair in London - Brought Vaux over with him from England

H.W.S Cleveland

1814 - 1900 - Early career as observer of nature, scientific farmer, writer - Began designing rural cemeteries in 1854 - Entered the Central Park competition in 1857 - Moved to Chicago and designed parks and cemeteries - "Landscape Architecture as Applied to the Wants of the West" - Park systems for 'Minneapolis, Minnesota', 'St. Paul, Wisconsin', 'Omaha, Nebraska'

Andrew Jackson Downing

1815 - 1852 'The Apostle of Taste' - American horticulturalist and landscape designer following in tradition of Repton & Loudon - Author of a periodical and several influential books on gardening and architecture, including "A treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening Adapted to North America

Frederick Law Olmsted

1822 -1903 - Coined "landscape architect" - Central Park - Prospect Park

Downing's plan for the Mall, D.C.

1851 Transform the mall into a "national park" that would demonstrate different landscape gardening styles and serve as an arboretum (not implemented)

The Olmsted Brothers

1852 - 1920 Brookline, MA Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and John Charles Olmsted - Portland Park System - Piedmont Park - Frederic Law Olmsted Jr. was the Author of the mission statement of the National Park Service 1916 "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations"

Jens Jensen

1860 - 1951 Chicago, IL - Experimented with native plants, became known as one of the founders of the prairie style - Worked extensively on Midwestern parks and residential landscapes (and collaborated with leading prairie school architects, including frank Lloyd Wright) - Devout conservationist and educator "A landscape architect, like a landscape painter, can't photograph; he must idealize the things he sees. In other words, he must to try to portray its soul." - Humboldt Park, Chicago - Columbus Park, Chicago

Hare & Hare

1860 - 1960 Sidney Hare and Herbert Hare Kansas City, MO - Herman park, Houston (zoological and botanical gardens) - Loose Park, Kansas City (overall layout and rose garden) - Rose Garden, Fort Wayne

George Kessler

1862 - 1923 St. Louis, MO and Dallas, TX - Designed 26 park and boulevard systems and 49 parks over a 40 year career, including systems in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Denver, Oklahoma City, & Mexico City - Kansas City Park System - Herman Park (overall layout and entrance design)

The Yosemite Grant & National Park

1864, Yosemite Valley, California "Union of the deepest sublimity with the deepest beauty of nature" Olmsted - Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove set aside in 1864 "for public use, resort, and recreation" - Olmsted appointed the chairman of Yosemite's board of commissioners in 1865 - John Muir, 1838-1914, Author, naturalist, & advocate for the preservation of wilderness, Influential in pushing through legislation to make Yosemite a National Park in 1890 (but the valley remained under State control) Influenced Pres. T. Roosevelt in 1903

Beaux-Arts Style

1870s - 1930s Classical revival in architecture (Greek, Roman, and other formal European themes) that also influenced parks, gardens, and cities

Evolution of public lands - 19th Century

1872 - Yellowstone, Wyoming/Montana/Idaho 1890 - Yosemite, Sequoia, & General Grant, all in California 1899 - Mount Rainier, Washington 1902 - Crater Lake, Oregon 1910 - Glacier, Montana 1915 - Rocky Mountain, Colorado; Hot Springs, Arkansas; Wind Cave, South Dakota; Platt, Oklahoma 1886-1918 - Yellowstone National Park under U.S. Military management

Yellowstone National Park

1872, First national park Wyoming, Montana, Idaho - Geologist Ferdinand Hayden's 1871 survey of the 2,000,000 acres would become the national park

Niagara State Reservation

1883 Niagara River, of the New York/Ontario border 1879 - Gardner Report - Map of Niagara Falls proposed reservations for the protection of scenery "A superb diamond set in lead" - General plan for improvement, Olmsted & Vaux, 1887

City Beautiful Movement

1890s - 1910s Beaux-arts inspired approach to city planning, founded on goals of: 1. Seeking beauty to create moral & civic virtue 2. Promoting a harmonious social order to remove social ills

US Forest Service (formation of)

1905 - Antiquities Act (1906) - Gave president power to set aside National Monuments (which would later fall under NPS management - Two schools of thought in the early 20th century: Conservation and Preservation - Conservationists believed in environmental management that conserved exceptional areas with the trade-off that other natural resources would need to be tapped for economic development (done wisely and within limits) - Preservationsists believed in the inherent good of natural systems and the need to keep natural areas unaltered regardless of other needs - In the late 1910's and 1920's the USFS economic mission became clouded as public began to see them as another form of recreational park - balancing role of forest preserves & increasing need for recreation

Bronx River Parkway

1912 - 1923, New York Leslie Hollerman, Engineer Hermann Merkel, Landscape Architect - First Regional-scale Parkway - Planned as a park with a 4-lane roadway to create a dignified entrance into NYC from the north - Median has irregular width that accommodates grade changes and such topographical features as rock outcrops and stands of trees - First highway with grade separated intersections - landscape architects designed the bridge overpasses

National Park Service (formation of)

1916 - By 1916 there were 15 national parks & 30 national monuments, all under the management of the United Stated Army - In 1916 legislation is passed creating the National Park Service, transferring management responsibilities of the park and monuments from the Army to the new agency Consultants: Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. - Mission Statement - Acadia NP, Maine and other parks Warren Manning - Proposed a system of connected National Parks and Monuments via roads, trails, and scenic drives Employees: Charles Punchard, Jr. - Head of first division of "Landscape Engineering", 1918-1920 Daniel Hull & Paul Kiessig - Landscape Architects, replacements of Punchard

State parks (evolution of)

1920's Background: - Yosemite & Mariposa Big Tree Grove technically the first "State Parks", California, 1864 - Niagara Falls Reservation & Adirondack Forest Reserve in New York, 1885 - Various states tentatively follow suit in 1890s - by 1918 only ½ of the states had state parks, none were organized into a state parks system Influence of the National Park Service: - After WWI (1918) an increased use of automobiles led to increasingly heavy use of National Park lands - Stephen Mather, NPS Director, saw the use of State Parks as a buffer to help relieve pressures on National Parks - Mather organized the first National Conference of State Parks in 1921 - Rapid expansion of State Parks and creation of agencies to oversee them - 17 state park boards created between 1921 and 1927

CCC & WPA

1933 - 1945, FDR under the New Deal WPA (Works Progress Administration) - Funding for the arts - Education CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) - US Forest Service - National Park Service - State & Municipal Parks - 10 labor classifications

Blue Ridge Parkway

1935 - 1984 North Carolina & Virginia - Links Shenandoah NP, Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains NP, North Carolina (469 miles) - NPS, WPA & CCC - Stanley Abbott, Landscape Architect - Two primary reasons for construction: Create a link scenic linkage between two National Parks and Alleviate unemployment during the Great Depression "The road should "lie easily on the ground, blend harmoniously with the topography, and appear as if it had grown out of the soil."

Impact of 1930s on LA's

90% of all LA's in 1930s were in government service, a complete reversal from 1920s Conrad Wirth (1899-1993) 1931 - joined the NPS as Assistant Director for Land Planning 1933 - supervised the service's Civilian Conservation Corps program in the state parks. - Only Landscape Architect to serve as Director of the NPS, 1951-1964 Thomas Vint (1894-1967) 1933 - Chief of the Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs - Hired team of landscape architects and architects - design oversight of all NPS and State Park developments - Supervised implementation of HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey), also in 1933

Promenade

A leisurely walk taken in a public space as a social activity - also describes a public area set aside for the Examples: - Cours la Reine, Paris 1616 - Avenue de Champs-Elysees, Paris late 17th c.

Hudson River School

An American art movement embodied by landscape painters, spanning from approximately 1825 to 1875, whose depictions of the American landscape were strongly influenced by Romanticism - Thomas Cole (founder) - Asher Durand (Kindred Spirits)

Birkenhead Park

Birkenhead, England 1847 Joseph Paxton - First public park in England to use public funds for acquisition and to be owned by the public - "Five minutes of admiration... and I was ready to admit that in democratic America there was nothing to be though of as comparable with this People's garden"Olmsted said

"Emerald Necklace" (& major pieces)

Boston Park System 1878-1896 Olmsted & Co - (Back Bay Fens, Leverret or Olmsted Park, Jamaica Park, Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park or Crown Jewel)

Mt. Auburn Cemetery

Boston, MA 1831 - "Our parks for the dead... are unsurpassed in the refinement of their adornments... but where are the parks for the living?" Frank J Scott

Prospect Park (& major subspaces)

Brooklyn, New York 1866 Olmsted & Vaux - (Grand Army Plaza, Soilder's & Sailor's Arch Entry, The Long Meadow, The Ravine, Lookout Hill, The Nethermead)

Buffalo NY Park System (& major pieces)

Buffalo, NY 1868 Olmsted & Vaux - Delaware Park

Jackson & Washington Parks, Chicago

Chicago South Park Commission 1871 Olmsted, Vaux & Co - (Jackson Park, Midway Plaisance, Washington Park) - "A combination of the fresh and healthy nature of the North with the restful, dreamy nature of the South." In regards to Jackson Park

Derby Arboretum

Derby, England 1840 J.C. Loudon

Stephen Mather

First Director & "Father of the National Park Service" served 1917-1929 "all of the improvements in the parks must be carefully harmonized with the landscape, and to this end, engineers trained in landscape architecture or fully appreciative of the necessity for maintaining the parks in their natural state must be employed"

Kansas City Park System

George Kessler

Hermann Park, Houston

George Kessler, Hare & Hare - 445 acres - Many recreational facilities such as a golf course and zoo - City beautiful

Muskau Park

Germany 1815 Prince Puckler-Muskau

Columbus Park, Chicago

Jens Jensen - 140 acres - Fieldhouse, prairie river, swimming hole, recreational facilities screened on the border - Classic prairie style

Prince's Park

Liverpool, England 1842 Sir Joseph Paxton

Bois de Boulogne

Paris, France 1852 Jean-Charles-Adolph Alphand - Royal hunting park redesigned by Alphand in the "jardin anglais" (English Garden) style

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont

Paris, France 1864 Jean-Charles-Adolph Alphand - Sublime features (Cliff with folly atop)

English Landscape Style (sublime/beautiful/picturesque)

Sublime: Picturesque: a rugged, wild, naturalistic style, occupying a middle ground between the beautiful and sublime - it is also included a shift from looking at objects in the landscape to looking at the landscape as an object Beautiful:

Gardenesque

Term coined by Louden in 1832 to describe an emerging style that showcased plants as artistic specimens - Promoted exotic over native plant species - Used individual specimens and geometric flower beds ('carpet bedding' or 'bedding out') rather than massed vegetation - Better suited for smaller properties that 18th c. styles - Results were often eclectic and lacked cohesiveness