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In honor of the 200th anniversary of perhaps the most revered figure in the history of American landscape architecture, the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) has produced a wonderfully illustrated digital guide to over 300 landscape designs by Frederick Law Olmsted.
Featuring landscapes from Maine, Massachusetts, Illinois, Canada, his home state of Connecticut and 26 others, the guide features a mapping system and database of important biographical information about his myriad of employees and even more details about the outsized impacts of its successor companies.
The 20th in the TCLF’s “What’s Out There” guide series, this edition gives equal weight to 30 National Historic Sites and hundreds of other lesser-known designs associated with Olmsted, including Vermont’s Shelburne Farms and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, which he long considered his masterpiece. Each entry is accompanied by a detailed 250-word description and information about the site’s topology, style, design team, and associated landscapes.
TCLF President and CEO Charles A. Birnbaum is currently completing an illustrated guide for Timber Press co-authored by Arleyn Levee and Dena Tasse-Winter titled Discover Olmsted – The Enduring Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted’s North American Landscapes. In a statement, he promised the online guide and book would include an in-depth look at Olmsted’s legacy, with stories from early Olmsted customers and collaborators such as William Lyman Phillips and Warren H. Manning to add to the tons of visual and historical information contained within.
“Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr.’s impact on the identity of the nation and the profession of landscape architecture is invaluable,” he said. The guide is available online from April 26. What’s there Olmsted was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and Educational Partners Olmsted 200 and the American Society of Landscape Architects.
