![]() Capitol grounds and the Chicago World's Fair. He also designed the landscape for the U.S. Olmsted went on to create some of the most important landscape designs of the 19th century, including civic parks, campuses and residential communities. He also touted the economic benefits of urban parks. Olmsted promoted ideas about "the experience of nature and natural beauty as being essential to the well-being and success of society," Carr said. ![]() His writings espoused the power of parks to promote health and boost people's spirits, Carr said. "Other municipalities wanted a park like that," Carr said.Ĭentral Park, and Olmsted's later park designs, exemplified his belief in healthful, beautiful cities. In 1865, more than 7 million people visited (today, the number is 25 million), and it was depicted by Currier and Ives and other illustrators. European parks often incorporated a museum or other monumental attraction Olmsted's designs were based on the idea of experiencing the landscape.Ĭonstruction on the park began in 1857 and it quickly entered the popular imagination. Olmsted wondered how the American republic could create parks that reflect democratic political and social values, Carr said. "Central Park was the first of its type of any great significance," Carr said.Įuropean royal parks were created by aristocratic governments. The duo coined the term "landscape architecture" for the work they were doing. In his first foray into park design, Olmsted won the design competition for Central Park along with the British architect Calvert Vaux. "If he never became a landscape architect, Olmsted would be considered a moderately important literary figure of his time," Carr said. He reported for the New York Times and co-founded the journal The Nation. Olmsted was already a successful literary figure when he turned his efforts to park design, having written books about his travels in England and about conditions in antebellum South. With associate editor Amanda Gagel and a staff of research assistants, Carr is chronicling the work of a man who not only contributed to the creation of the American urban landscape and molded attitudes about the preservation of open space, but also helped shape American politics, religion and society. Carr is editing the eighth volume of the "Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted," Central Park's co-designer and the man who set the standard for public parks in America.Ĭarr, editor for the volume, brought this portion of the Olmsted papers project with him when he came to U.Va. Today, Central Park is again on his mind. He has written two books on the history of American national parks. He worked for eight years as an historian and historical landscape architect for the National Park Service and has worked at other public agencies and private offices. He then earned a master's degree in landscape architecture at Harvard and a Ph.D. After earning bachelor's and master's degrees in art history and archaeology at Columbia University, he became New York City's park historian. Since then, Carr – now a landscape architecture history professor at the University of Virginia – has devoted his career to the history and interpretation of public landscapes in America. 14, 2009 - Ethan Carr has been intrigued by public parks since he worked as a gardener in New York City's Central Park more than 20 years ago.
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