Frederick Law Olmsted
Founder of American Landscape Architecture

Biography and Philosophy           Works
Selected Bibliography Related Web Resources Olmsted Oganizations
 

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Buttonwood Park
The Demise of an Olmsted Master Plan

DEM, NAOP, MAOP, HMI, Harvard GSD/DLA, .. take note! Plenty of documentation during Olmsted Plan Development - landscape history, site evaluation, master plan, etc. .... NO documentation/analysis/attention of/to the ongoing dissolution/unravelling of the plan. - (rl - 1/4/99)

Buttonwood park in New Bedford, Massachusetts was one of ten parks selected for restoration/renewal funding under the 1984 Commonwealth of Massachusetts DEM Olmsted Historic Landscape Preservation Program. In 1988 the Master Plan for Buttonwood Park was completed (Walker-Kluesing Design Group with citizen participation). Initial Phase I implementation was completed in the early 1990's. Further implementation was put on hold, and has since been effectively abandoned but for token gestures. In 1996 Buttonwood Park was placed on Historic Mass Inc.'s list of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Resources in Massachusetts. Subsequently and, in retrospect, prematurely removed from the list. (More to come...)

National Association for Olmsted Parks
presents
Recapturing Waterways in Historic Parks,
Rochester's Olmsted Legacy in a National Context

The National Association for Olmsted Parks, the nation's non-profit advocacy group for the preservation of historic parks, will hold a national conference at the historic George Eastman House in Rochester, New York from September 30 through October 3, 1999. Entitled "Recapturing Waterways in Historic Parks, Rochester's Olmsted Legacy in a National Context," the three-day conference is co-sponsored by the Monroe County Parks Department, the City of Rochester's Bureau of Parks and the National Park Service - Heritage Preservation Services.

 

 
Olmsted - The Man and His Philosophy

 

Olmsted's Works

  • Lantern Slides (from American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920 (American Memory, Library of Congress) from the collection of the Harvard Graduate School of Design)


  • Olmsted's Plan for the Capitol Grounds

  • The U.S. Capitol Grounds.

  • New York

  • Boston and Vicinity

  • Connecticut - hartford Hospital Institute of the Living


    Jackson Park, Chicago, Illinois

  • Illinois

    Belle Isle, Detroit

  • North Carolina

  • Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia

  • Fairmont Park, Philadelphia

  • California

  • Seattle, Washington

     

    Selected References

    Under Revision

    Click here for direct ordering of selected Olmsted books.

     

    Related Web Sites and Resources

     

    Olmsted Organizations

     

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    This page maintained by Richard Leary - last updated 1999-09-24

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