An edition of Olmsted's America (1995)

Olmsted's America

an "unpractical" man and his vision of civilization

1st ed.
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Last edited by MARC Bot
July 17, 2024 | History
An edition of Olmsted's America (1995)

Olmsted's America

an "unpractical" man and his vision of civilization

1st ed.
  • 1 Want to read

While Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) stands among America's great innovators, his story is one of both enormous achievement and miserable failure, of public acclaim and official derision. Known as the Father of American Landscape Architecture, he is best recognized for his collaborative work with Calvert Vaux. Together they designed and built some of the greatest parks and public spaces in America, including Central Park in Manhattan and Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Among Olmsted's numerous solo projects are Boston's Emerald Necklace, the grounds of the United States Capitol and the Washington Monument, and the extensive grounds at Biltmore, the Vanderbilt mansion in North Carolina.

But Olmsted was a restless individual who pursued a number of careers, among them "scientific" farmer, journalist, and commissioner of the Union's Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. He was author of several books, director of the Mariposa gold mines in California, instrumental in the preservation of Yosemite and Niagara Falls - and, by extension, the founding of the National Park Service - and designer of Riverside, Illinois, the first planned suburb.

Perhaps his most significant legacy to Western civilization, however, stems from his ideas and plans concerning the importance of integrating everyday life with nature. In Olmsted's America, Lee Hall presents not just a biography per se but an examination of how Olmsted's particular ideas affected the United States during his time and the important significance these concepts hold for today's world, especially as they relate to nature and the environment.

Publish Date
Publisher
Little, Brown
Language
English
Pages
270

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Previews available in: English

Book Details


Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-263) and index.
"A Bulfinch Press book."

Published in
Boston
Genre
Biography.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
712/.092, B
Library of Congress
SB470.O5 H34 1995, SB470.O5 H34 1995, SB470.O5H34 1995

The Physical Object

Pagination
ix, 270 p. :
Number of pages
270

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL1109289M
Internet Archive
olmstedsamericau0000hall
ISBN 10
0821219987
LCCN
94034663
OCLC/WorldCat
31131116
Library Thing
872322
Goodreads
1098563

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History

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July 17, 2024 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
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