I thought I knew a lot about Olmsted landscapes -- and I do -- but in this new book by Charles Birnbaum of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF), there are myriad Olmsted projects that I never knew about and never encountered in other books.
In Experiencing Olmsted, (Timber Press, 2022) Birnbaum profiles projects in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Canada that were designed by the Olmsted firm, which survived long after the death of Frederick Law Olmsted in 1903. Each chapter represents a different state, with short descriptions of each landscape, accompanied by photos, plans and drawings. Readers will of course be familiar with the grounds of the US Capitol in DC, New York city's Central Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, and many more. But you may be unaware of Washtenong Memorial Park in Ann Arbor, Michigan -- a cemetery; projects for the National Cash Register Corporation in Dayton, Ohio; or Blackstone Boulevard in Providence, Rhode Island.
As Birnbaum notes in the introduction to the book, "Experiencing an Olmsted landscape can alter your mood, calm your spirit, and provide lifelong memories. Distinct from fine art, architecture, music, and dance, a great work of landscape architecture -- from a meticulously planned and designed park or garden to an expansive open space preserved as a natural or scenic reservation -- is uniquely multisensory and utterly transporting."
So -- acquire this book and let yourself be transported to inspiring landscapes around the country. "These places were designed with democracy and democratic vallues in mind," says Birnbaum, "and their benefits were available to everyone."
Commissions earned.