New York Citys Central Park

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New York Citys Central Park

• By
• Frederick Law Olmsted-founder of American
  landscape architecture

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Olmsted boasted that-

• "Central Park is of great importance as the first
  real Park made in this century a democratic
  development of the highest significance "

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New York- early 19th Century

• In the early 1800s NYCs population was only
  60,000 people
• In the 1930s and 40s over 300,000 people were
  added to the rapidly expanding population
• By 1950 NYC was home to over HALF A MILLION people

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Crowded City Life

• The stress of city life grew along with NYCs
  crowded population
• Half a million people were confined to relatively
  the same space as the original 60,000 residents
  had been
• The noises, smells, and atmosphere of the city
  were inescapable-

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Crowded City Life cont

• People found themselves seeking refuge in
  cemeteries, as they were the only natural and
  green places
• Although, as one visitor noted-
• "Before long, white tombstones and dark lines of
  hearses took the cheer out of the landscape."

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Remedy

• In 1944 William Cullen Bryant proposed the idea
  for a large-central-public park, with Andrew
  Jackson Downings support they attempted to
  persuade city planners to set aside land
• In a moment of rare political wisdom, both
  political parties at the time endorsed the idea
• From 1853 to 1856 the land from 59th to 106th St.
  and between 5th and 8th Aves. was obtained for 5
  million

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Park Design Competition

• In 1857 there was a public competition to design
  the new Central Park
• Out of 33 entries the "Greensward Plan" by
  Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux was chosen

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Olmsteds Inspirations

• In his travels to England, Olmstead finds peace
  and tranquility away from the restlessness of the
  city in public parks
• Many of Olmsteads landscapes reflect the impact
  that English parks and gardens had on him

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Olmsteds Inspirations cont

• He used English landscape concepts of highly
  structured artificial landscapes that appeared
  chaotic and natural, yet were highly ordered and
  manipulated
• Central Park was to be a pastoral place that
  could reflect the natural beauty of Americas
  vast wilderness

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Olmsteds Inspirations cont

• English landscapes such as Stourhead Park greatly
  influenced Olmsteads design
• A natural landscape complemented by architectural
  ruins, without symmetry or any other human
  influences
• The classical moss covered ruins were meant to
  convey the sense of inevitable victory of nature
  over man

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Olmsteds Inspirations cont

• Horace Walpole, another one of Olmsteads English
  influences stated that-
• "all of nature was a garden
• Olmstead agreed that the best compliment to a
  modern crowded city was a calm and peaceful
  escape back to our rural beginnings

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Olmsteds Inspirations cont

• Capability Browns landscapes at Blenheim,
  Longheat, and Chatsworth have the same element of
  design that Olmstead later incorporated into his
  blueprint of Central Park
• Although intentional, all modifications
  contribute to a natural feeling

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Vision Realized

• It took more than twenty years for Central Park
  to be completed, in that time Olmstead officially
  removed himself from the project on several
  occasions only to be drawn back to his brainchild
• Over the years many additions have been made to
  the park that dont follow Olmsteads original
  vision of the space, but the park, like nature,
  constantly evolves over time

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Central Parks Stats

• 843 acres or 6 of Manhattan's total acreage,
  including
• 150 acres in 7 bodies of water
• 250 acres of lawns
• 136 acres of woodlands
• 26,000 trees
• 36 bridges and arches
• 58 miles of pedestrian paths
• 25 million visit Central Park each year

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• What artist so noble...as he who, with far
  reaching conception of beauty, in designing
  power, sketches the outlines, writes the colors,
  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

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Group Activity

• We all live in a major metropolitan area and are
  familiar with the stresses and annoyances that
  are a consequence of that environment-
• Decide as a group the three things that most
  stress you about city life, and then describe why
  natural areas may help to alleviate them.

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By

• Rory McGregor