In the last decades of the 19th century, Americans looked at their own
cities and realised that they needed the refining effects of parks and
art. They derived their concept of an urban park from the traditional
solution for people seeking relief from the evils of the city - to escape
to the country.
They realised that people needed breathing space in which to walk, and
drew on Emerson's lofty idea that the contemplation of nature, and attunement
with it, 'trains the spirit'.
Their parks injected fresh air, meadows, lakes and sunshine into the
grim, rigid grids of their towns. "Exercise, instruction and psychic
restoration" were intended to improve the outlook of the impoverished
slum dweller. Visitors often spent the whole day in the park.
Frederic Law Olmsted
A new specialism, that of the landscape architect, was developed, pioneered
by Frederic Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park in New York City
and the Golden Gate Bridge Park among many others. Work began on Central
Park in 1858. Olmsted was helped by Calvert Vaux.
Their attempt to create a wilderness atmosphere in 'The Ramble' in the
heart of Central Park influenced the design of many city parks in the
United States.
Romantic and formal design
It introduced romantic, irregular clusters of shrubbery, interspersed
with patches of open ground and winding paths that opened up new vistas
at every turn, giving the impression of a much more spacious area that
it really was.
Research has shown that this is the type of layout Westerners prefer
nowadays. It is the very opposite of the regimented Victorian geometric
and brightly coloured flower beds.
What is wonderful about it is the wildness: the brambles and undergrowth,
the trees growing willy nilly in the woods. The best part of the formal
parks is the water — lakes, ponds, rivers, canals. People always
cluster around them, as if they are thirsty just to see the water.
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A history of greenspace and parks
