“Landscape is more than a lawn” is a chapter written on the article/ speech coined “Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns” written by Frederick Law Olmsted. Frederick Law Olmsted was an American landscape architect in the 19th century. He is known to be the “father of American landscape architecture” he was known for designing multiple famous urban parks, including central park. The article relates to “modern” science, modern science meaning modern in the 19th century, explaining the “evil” of modern cities. He portrays the unhealthy habits of large cityscapes without urban greenery. His writing style throughout the article is Shakespearian using multiple accounts of personification and larger metaphors. He criticizes the current urban fabric, for the population increases without foliage creation. Also pushing the idea of not planting trees in the act of wrongdoing. He determines that no space has been created for foliage, but actually on the contrary, as trees are pushed and shoved from which areas they belong. Claiming the expense of trees is high compared to the pavement but raises the worth of real estate and experience of the urban fabric. Olmsted writes this piece with an activist mindset with a formal theoretical approach. He almost creates his very own manifesto with a call to action tone of speech. One thing left out in his speech is the impact of the natural landscape, but he speaks more on the human design and creation of foliage and sunlight. Personally, I find this detrimental to his argument because he doesn’t explain how little of central park isn’t planned or planted rather placed and created. I believe there is a large amount of wasted natural potential untapped in large cities. He speaks about making space for beautiful trees, but barely scratches the surface on building modern cities around the unused natural landscape. I believe the parks are the lungs of modern cities, but they should not just be a simple zone on a map but truly integrated into the urban fabric itself.
Central Park, New York