Saving Olmsted
John Hill
27. October 2022
Andrew Jackson Downing Memorial Park, Newburgh, New York (Photo by Barrett Doherty, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
This year's iteration of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's annual Landslide report and exhibition focuses on threatened and at-risk landscapes designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., and his successor firms, not coincidentally on the bicentennial of his birth.
The list of twelve sites revealed this week by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a relatively somber affair compared to the celebrations taking place earlier in the year, when TCLF launched What's Out There Olmsted, for instance, and numerous organizations held events the week of Frederick Law Olmsted's bicentennial birthday in April.
The annual Landslide program aims to "draw immediate and lasting attention to threatened cultural landscapes" while acknowledging that landscapes are constantly changing and therefore require appropriate stewardship. Although Olmsted may be considered the father of landscape architecture and have his name associated with more than 200 places in the National Register of Historic Places, TCLF points out that "an Olmsted provenance does not always ensure protection."
The twelve sites, illustrated here in photos — sometimes clearly expressing their at-risk aspects, sometimes not — and in much more depth on TCLF's Landslide website, draw attention to Olmsted landscapes that are considerably lesser known than his masterpiece, Central Park, but deserve as much care and respect.
California State Parks System (Photo of Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Santa Cruz County, 2020 by Alex Tabone © California State Parks)
Deepdene Park at Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia (Photo by Emily Followill, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Andrew Jackson Downing Memorial Park, Newburgh, New York (Photo by Barrett Doherty, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Franklin Park, Boston, Massachusetts (Photo by Will Serber, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Genesee Valley Park, Rochester, New York (Photo by Jamie Ratchford, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
City of Lake Wales, Florida (Photo courtesy Lake Wales Heritage)
Olmsted Woods at National Cathedral, Washington, DC (Photo by Allen Russ, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park, Oyster Bay, New York (Photo courtesy Planting Fields Foundation)
Seattle Parks and Boulevard System, Seattle, Washington (Photo by Scott Smithson, courtesy The Cultural Landsape Foundation)
Sunalta (now Scarboro), Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Photo by James Reid, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
Veterans Memorial Parkway, Providence, Rhode Island (Photo by Dereck Mendoza, courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation)
