frederick law olmsted

Frederick law olmsted

LIFE FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED (APRIL

26, 1822 – AUGUST 28, 1903) WAS AN AMERICAN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT, JOURNALIST, SOCIAL CRITIC, AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR.

OLMSTED WAS FAMOUS FOR CO-DESIGNING MANY WELL-KNOWN URBAN PARKS WITH HIS SENIOR PARTNER CALVERT VAUX, INCLUDING CENTRAL PARK IN NEW YORK CITY AND ELM PARK IN WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

OLMSTED IS OFTEN CITED AS THE FOUNDER OF AMERICAN LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND A KEY CONTRIBUTOR TO THE PHYSICAL LAYOUT AND LIFE OF MANY AMERICAN CITIES.

BORN IN HARTFORD, CT; LIVED IN VARIOUS COUNTRY TOWNS AFTER DEATH OF HIS MOTHER; NEVER FORMALLY SCHOOLED

AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, RETURNED TO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE – DEVOTED REST OF HIS LIFE

PLANNED AND EXECUTED PARKS, COLLEGE CAMPUSES, PUBLIC SPACES ALL OVER THE U.S.

Olmsted's Philosophy 1850'S – OLDER AMERICAN CITIES LIKE NEW

YORK, BOSTON WERE PRETTY AWFUL PLACES (VERY DENSELY BUILT UP BUT NO PLANNING, INADEQUATE SANITATION, GROWING MANUFACTURING AREAS, ETC.)

THE MORE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING YOU MAKE A CITY, THE MORE PEOPLE WILL WANT TO LIVE IN THAT CITY, AND THE HAPPIER THEY WILL BE

THE WAY TO MAKE CITIES MORE AESTHETICALLY PLEASING IS TO BRING ASPECTS OF THE COUNTRY INTO THEM – “NATURAL” LANDSCAPES, VEGETATION, VIEWS – THE “CITY BEAUTIFUL”

OLMSTED BELIEVED THAT THE RURAL, PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE CONTRASTED WITH AND COUNTERACTED THE CONFINING AND UNHEALTHFUL CONDITIONS OF THE CROWDED URBAN ENVIRONMENT AND SERVED TO STRENGTHEN SOCIETY BY PROVIDING A PLACE WHERE ALL CLASSES COULD MINGLE IN CONTEMPLATION AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PASTORAL EXPERIENCE.

HE SOUGHT TO SCREEN HIS "PLEASURE GROUNDS" COMPLETELY FROM THE INTRUSIONS OF DAILY LIFE BY SCREENING THEM WITH THICK PLANTINGS ALONG THEIR BORDERS, SEPARATING AND EXCLUDING COMMERCIAL TRAFFIC, AND DISCOURAGING ALL USAGE OF THE GROUNDS WHICH WERE NOT IN HARMONY WITH THIS GOAL. HE ALSO STROVE TO BRING THE LANDSCAPE AS CLOSE TO AS MUCH OF THE URBAN POPULATION AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT ALL COULD BENEFIT FROM IT.

Effects of a Good City Park

GIVES EVERYONE IN THE CITY'S POPULATION (RICH AND POOR ALIKE) A “PLEASURE GROUND” (OLMSTED'S PHRASE) FOR QUIET CONTEMPLATION OF NATURE, ACTIVITIES LIKE WALKING, RUNNING, OTHER SPORTS, …

TREES, OTHER VEGETATION CAN SERVE TO MINIMIZE EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION.

OPEN SPACE IMPROVES QUALITY OF LIFE AND MAKES HIGHER POPULATION DENSITY OPTIONS LIKE MULTI-STORY APARTMENT BUILDINGS BEARABLE.

Planned communities and ladscapes

Arnold Arboretum Belle Isle Boston's Emerald

Necklace Buffalo, New York Central Park Druid Hills, Atlanta, GA. Franklin Park Grounds of the US

Capitol Moraine Farm, Beverly

Mass.

Jamaica Pond Mount Royal, Montreal

Quebec Muddy Rivers Link Niagara Falls State

Reserve Prospect Park Riverside, Illinois Stanford University The Biltmore The Colombian

Exhibition

Central Park in New York Overall view from north end:

Grand formal spaces

Together with almost rural areas

Emerald necklace

Back bay fens

Garden of US capitol

What architect so noble...as he who, with far-reaching conception of beauty, in designing power, sketches the outlines, writes the colors, becomes the builder and directs the shadows of a picture so great that Nature shall be employed upon it for generations, before the work he arranged for her shall realize his intentions.- Frederick Law Olmsted 

By :S. Prarthana

Swathy MirzaTessa Mary Joshy

Vaisnavi Shetty