RR11

RR11
"Downing believed that one could bring nature to the city in the form of parks, but only if they were big enough to stimulate a landscape, albeit one that had been tamed and brought into balance with human needs." --(Ching p667)

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This is a contemporary picture of Central Park in New York City.

• It was originally designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux.
• It was created sculpted by the Olmstead, Vaux & Company from 1853 until 1883.
• The Firm came to New York to work alongside Jackson Downing, a big advocate for urban landscaping.

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"Downing, influenced by picturesques ideas as well as the growing moralism of the early Victorian era, saw in landscapes as more than just a convenient stage used by the wealthy for setting up monuments to heroes, as it was at Stowe Gardens.  Landscape, so Downing held, strengthened character and supported the integrity of the family." -- (Ching p667)

• The area was originally a garbage dump and shanty town.
• Its designers transformed it into a 2,170 square kilometer park.
• Anything that did not fit the specific design was either removed or blasted away.

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• After excavation and demolition, the designers added four million cubic yards of rock and soil.
• In addition, the designers systematically placed four to five million trees in the park.
• Once matured and designs were completed, the park held meadows, forest, hilltop lookouts, castles, sheep farms, skating rinks, and eateries, curved paths and bridges.

This park attracted ten million visitors in its first year of operating alone, which goes to prove the importance of cities on the rise and the attention to city structures coming into the modern age.  The importance of Central Park today is perhaps obvious in that we need and will increasingly need more green spaces, simply to offset all of the urban areas we are building.   But for those that live in New York, it is perhaps more of the "Downing" ideology, in that it provides appeals of good values and characteristics.

Ching, Frank, Mark Jarzombek, and Vikramaditya Prakash. A Global History of Architecture. 2nd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2011. Print.