Weekend, May 7-8, 2022 – THE PROCESS WAS FOLLOWED IN AN ORGANIZED WAY TO DESIGN AND BUILD SO MANY PARKS
FROM THE ARCHIVES
WEEKEND, MAY 7-8, 2022
THE 669th EDITION
THE OLMSTED WAY
The Design Process:
Fort Tryon Park
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Olmsted Archives, Job #00529
Have you ever wondered how parks are made? In the Olmsted Firm, the process of designing a landscape was often long and involved many people. Typically, the design process included the following steps:
The Design Process: Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park: The Client’s Inquiry
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was the senior partner in the Olmsted Firm during the Fort Tryon project.
Olmsted Archives
A new landscape design job at the Olmsted firm always began with a letter from a potential client. Clients wrote to the firm with a particular project in mind. The firm answered inquiries with a cost estimate for a preliminary visit. The firm also typically requested that clients conduct topographical surveys of the site to send to the firm. After a client contacted the firm, the firm assigned them a folder and job number.
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. contacted the Olmsted Brothers firm in 1927 to develop a park on his property at Fort Tryon. The property, a Revolutionary War battle site, had been previously owned by Cornelius K.G. Billings. Rockefeller purchased the property and the Billings Mansion in 1917. Overlooking the Hudson River, the property featured scenic views and historic structures.
After a client’s initial inquiry, the firm would arrange a preliminary site visit.
Fort Tryon Park: Preliminary Site Visit
Oftentimes clients would independently conduct surveys of a site. Clients sent topographical maps to the firm which aided the landscape architects in the design process. Nevertheless, a preliminary visit would be made to the site, usually by a senior partner. The client paid the cost of the preliminary visit. The partner or an assistant would take notes on the site, and general design ideas would begin to be developed. Photography also became an important means of documenting details of the site. Preliminary visits were non-binding, taking place early on in the design process.
Fort Tryon Park: Preliminary Plans
The landscape architect used notes from site visits and topographical surveys to draft a preliminary plan. Certain projects, depending on scale, required several early plans and sketches before the landscape architect and client settled on a design.
The boardwalk has been replaced by a paved surface that will tolerate the storm conditions
Fort Tryon Park: General Plan
The general plan for Fort Tryon Park.
Olmsted Archives, Job #00529
| Frederick Law Olmsted and the firm’s later senior partners often did not draft final plans. Rather, they generated broad concepts for landscape designs. General plans were drawn by the firm’s draftsmen. The Olmsted firm valued accuracy. All plans would be checked twice, by two different employees, before being mailed to a client. Oftentimes, an explanatory report would be sent to clients along with the general plan. This report would explain, in writing, the principles, ideas, and objectives behind the design. | Fort Tryon’s general plan illustrated the general locations of trees and plants, lawns, structures, terraces, promenades, roads, and paths. |
Fort Tryon: Architectural and Engineering Plans
The firm’s department of engineering and architecture would draft plans for bridges, fences, and structures to supplement the general plan. These plans were more precise and detailed than general plans.
Next, planting plans were prepared.
Go back to the general plan.
Return to the design process home page.
Fort Tryon Park: Planting Plan
Plan showing a planting study for Fort Tryon Park.
Olmsted Archives
Job #00529
After both the landscape architect and the client had approved a general plan, planting plans were prepared. Where general plans showed the main features of a landscape design and the general arrangement of vegetation, planting plans would show a detailed layout of plantings, and included species names of trees and shrubs and quantities of each. After the approval of the planting plan, the firm would place an order for trees and shrubs. The firm did not directly supply plants or building materials.
The planting plan for Fort Tryon shows a variety of plants and trees including ash, willow, hickory, and peach trees. A note on one section of the planting plan reads, “If interesting vegetation exists[,] take it into account when carrying out this plan. That is[,] leave some of it.” A central component of Frederick Law Olmsted’s design principles was the idea that the natural features and conditions of the land should be preserved where possible. Later partners in the firm adhered to this principle.
The Olmsted firm did not have an in-house nursery. In fact, the firm intentionally did not form partnerships with particular nurseries in order to ensure that the client always got the highest quality and most suitable plants for the project at a fair price
Fort Tryon Park: Construction
The construction of a landscape was carried out by an outside contractor, selected through a bidding process. Because well-executed designs generated business and new clients for the firm, a member of the Olmsted firm would typically oversee construction of large projects to ensure designs were properly implemented. For the construction of Fort Tryon Park, the firm set up a nearby temporary field office.
Fort Tryon Park: Follow-Up Visits
The Olmsted firm often arranged to make follow-up visits to landscapes to ensure that designs had been properly carried out. Where landscapes needed to be altered, expanded, or redesigned, clients often re-hired the Olmsted firm. Some of the firm’s later partners worked on improvements for projects that they had worked on in the early years of their careers. The Olmsted firm’s involvement with some projects spanned many decades.
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https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2022/04/28/rihs-lecture-chandigarh-city-beautiful
WEEKEND PHOTO
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Text by Judith Berdy
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