founder of american landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmstead

1. Frederick law
olmsted

2.  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

3.  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.

4.  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”

5.  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

6.  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.

8.  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

9.  Overall view from north end:

10.  Grand formal spaces

11.  Together with almost rural areas

16. 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

18. By :
S. Prarthana
Swathy Mirza
Tessa Mary Joshy
Vaisnavi Shetty