A new biography of Frederick Law Olmsted pulls together letters and collections from five separate archives to paint him as a pioneering environmentalist and landscape architect.
Apparently Olmsted also experimented with gold mining and "scientific farming" before finding his calling. Justin Martin, author of Genius of Place: the Life of Frederick Law Olmsted, explains that his background prepared him to be an early environmentalist:
"Olmsted was also a visionary in defining the aims of landscape architecture, including resource conservation and the preservation of places like Yosemite and Niagara Falls, though he often had to fight popular trends with varying success to do so. His initial proposal for Stanford University's campus recommended a scheme suited to native plantings for an arid climate, rather than one mimicking the popular aesthetic found on New England campuses that would require extensive watering. Unfortunately, much of the scheme was omitted in the actual construction."
FULL STORY: The Genius of Olmsted
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Exhibition Shows the Swagger and the Social Conscience of a Previous Era of Planning
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Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
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Study: Maui’s Plan to Convert Vacation Rentals to Long-Term Housing Could Cause Nearly $1 Billion Economic Loss
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Wind Energy on the Rise Despite Federal Policy Reversal
The Trump administration is revoking federal support for renewable energy, but demand for new projects continues unabated.
Passengers Flock to Caltrain After Electrification
The new electric trains are running faster and more reliably, leading to strong ridership growth on the Bay Area rail system.
Texas Churches Rally Behind ‘Yes in God’s Back Yard’ Legislation
Religious leaders want the state to reduce zoning regulations to streamline leasing church-owned land to housing developers.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
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