Celebrating Frederick Law Olmsted
His Landscape Design Principles Led the Way
2022 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the 19th century American ‘father of landscape architecture’. He believed in public parks and extolled their value, saying in 1870, “it does men good to come together in this way in pure air and under the light of heaven”.
I love his phrase, ‘under the light of heaven’. Who talks like that? We would say “in fresh air and sunshine”. But that phrase underlies everything that Olmsted was about…
Olmsted’s design approach to parks was in tune with his time. He was high-minded and included carriage roads and wide walks for leisurely strolling. Today, parks are more for rollerblading, outdoor car shows and picnicking.
Olmsted’s aim was to provide respite to a working populace. He said parks “must have an influence directly counteractive to that of the ordinary hard, hustling working hours of town life.”
That aim is still valid today. “Hard, hustling working hours” certainly do beat us down. And parks rejuvenate us. They refresh us. They are essential to our wellbeing. Especially if you live in a city.
That said, we can utilize many of Olmsted's timeless design principles in our landscapes, both large and small. His enlightened site planning approach went beyond the confined boundaries of the formal and Victorian designs of his time. Instead, he looked to Nature for guidance. Here are some of Olmsted’s design innovations:
Landscape as infrastructure - Olmsted was way ahead of his time in creating drainage systems. He developed multi-layered natural systems that absorbed runoff and also installed the new subsurface tile drains (terra cotta pipes) that captured and directed runoff. Some of his drainage systems in parks are still in use today.
Map of Drainage System of Central Park, 1858. The red lines represent the tile drains, red circles are the silt basins, and the heavy black lines indicate the sewers. source - Toro, Eugenio. (2020). Operative Water Infrastructure as Shared Value: A Proposal to Reshape a Microeconomic Landscape. Design Beyond the Borders - Olmsted looked at the big picture. He fostered the idea of comprehensive planning. For example, he connected public grounds by greenways and boulevards to extend green spaces, when possible. Boston’s ‘Emerald Necklace’ of parks is an example of this approach. It is approximately seven miles by foot or bicycle through the network of parklands.
Emerald Necklace of Parks in Boston - 1894 map by Olmsted, Olmstead & Eliot, Norman B Leventhal Map Center
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