Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Olmsted promoted a vision that was a synthesis of social, technical, and
environmental design. From the English landscape gardening movement,
he adopted an aesthetic of irregular and naturalistic landscape composi-
tion as opposed to the formal geometries of the Renaissance and baroque
traditions. This natural aesthetic was a strategy to improve the physical
and psychological well-being of city populations who were coping with
increasing congestion and the loss of contact with the nonhuman world.
With respect to urban water, the Back Bay Fens project in Boston is a
quintessential example of Olmsted's attempt to integrate urban residents
with natural processes. Constructed in the 1880s and 1890s on tidal fl ats
and fl oodplains polluted with industrial and residential sewage, the project
included a buried sewer pipe, a parkway, and a streetcar line that allowed
for the intermingling of human and nonhuman activities. 11 The design
was a daring multifunctional experiment that involved landscape design,
engineering, urban planning, and ecology to serve as infrastructure and
recreational grounds. The project functioned as designed for only a few
decades; in 1910, engineers completed the Charles River dam, negating
the fl ood control and water quality aspects of Olmsted's project. 12
From the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, city planners followed
Olmsted's lead and applied an integrated landscape approach to urban
development, notably with the Garden City, City Beautiful, and Regional
Planning movements. These approaches emphasized the importance of
public parks, botanical gardens, and tree-lined boulevards to maintain a
connection between urban residents and nature. However, the integrated
vision of city and nature would gradually fade in the twentieth century
as disciplinary specialization resulted in a splintered approach to land-
scape design and the abandonment of Olmsted's synthetic vision of nature,
technology, and society. As a result, landscape architects became associ-
ated with environmental artistry and urban planners defi ned themselves
as rational and pragmatic professionals. Landscape theorist Anne Spirn
argues that the marginalization of landscape architects as artists was a
consequence of Olmsted's ability to successfully hide the unnatural parts
of his designs. She writes: “He disguised the artifi ce so that ultimately, the
built landscapes were not recognized and valued as human constructs. . . .
Ironically, it was the 'natural' appearance of his work that prevented
people from appreciating how it fulfi lled a broad range of functions.” 13
Landscape theorist Catherine Howett echoes this critique, arguing that
Olmsted's vision was “too complex and fragile for most Americans to un-
derstand.” 14 Consequently, the integrated approach to urban water man-
agement forwarded by Olmsted and his successors would be an anomaly
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