Celebrating the Olmsted legacy on his 200th birthday.

This spring, on April 26, 2022, we celebrated the bicentennial of Frederick Law Olmsted. In one way or another, we have all been touched by his legendary work. Locally, we can enjoy Olmsted’s legacy as the “father of landscape architecture” at UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Golden Gate Park, and Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. But no matter where you live in this country, chances are there is a park or campus nearby that he designed.   

This amazing pioneer was not only the landscape architect who designed some of America’s most iconic parks (Central Park, Prospect Park, and Boston’s Emerald Necklace to name but a few) but interestingly prior to that he lived a rich life as a farmer, seaman and journalist. 

At heart, Olmsted was a social reformer, an egalitarian, who deeply believed in social equity and the public park as a democratic right of all citizens. He understood the importance of the park as the antidote to urban life, a place of peace, refuge, relaxation and healing, saying,“the enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it, tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it; and thus, through the influence of the mind over the body, gives the effect of refreshing rest and reinvigoration to the whole system.” 

Throughout the pandemic his parks became places of respite where people could connect, recharge, and maintain a semblance of wellbeing. His ideals, both conceptually and in practice, have heavily influenced contemporary landscape architecture practice. In tribute, we asked our team to share how his work and his ideals have influenced their work. 

“There is a story about Olmsted’s planned thinning of Central Park’s tree canopy that encapsulates so much of what I love about landscape architecture. In the years after the park was planted, the public grew so fond of the trees that when workers came to remove the “nurse” species to make space for the others to grow, people protested the work. Olmsted then began working to educate the public on the importance of landscape maintenance to ensure the longevity of their beloved landscapes. The story demonstrates both the power of landscape to bond people to place and the role of designers as advocates for a deeper appreciation of landscapes as sites of dynamic process and change.” 
~Hannah Chako, Sr. Designer 

“I’m always impressed with how Olmsted created the urban park as a self-sufficient ecosystem, a transition area between city and nature, and the feeling, “made by human, and touched by nature.” 
~Chenkyu Ke, Designer 

" I continue to be awed by his expansive vision for the radical sculpting of landforms and transformative ecological systems all with an end goal of social change. His worthy goals remain as relevant as ever.” 
~Katy Taylor,  Assoc. Principal 

“I have lived in many cities and in most of them my life was touched by an Olmsted designed open space that became an integral part of my memory. I had my first date with my future husband in Oakland’s beautiful Mountain View Cemetery and taught my kids to ride their bikes in Piedmont Park in Atlanta. Much later I lived a stone's throw from World’s End in Hingham, MA reaching it by canoe and exploring it’s edges. They are magical and important places for me personally and for humanity as a whole.” 
~Petra Geiger, Marketing Operations 

There have been so many wonderful tributes to this great man, we share a few here for you to enjoy!
Happy 200th birthday!  

TCLF | The Olmsted Landscape Legacy 

NYTimes | An Assignment I Needed: Frederick Law Olmsted’s Legacy

NYTimes | Olmsted’s Enduring Gift