Calvert Vaux

Calvert Vaux

Quick Facts

Place of Birth:

London, England

Date of Birth:

Dec 20, 1824

Place of Death:

Brooklyn, NY

Date of Death:

Nov 19, 1895

Vaux was born in England, where he was educated as an architect. He came to America to serve as assistant, and then partner, to landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing. After Downing’s death in 1852, Vaux continued to practice architecture. In 1857, Vaux convinced the city of New York to have a competition for a new design for a major public park, known today as Central Park. 

He convinced the park’s superintendent, Frederick Law Olmsted, to join him in submitting a plan, and their design, named “The Greensward Plan,” won first place. An original feature of their design was the separation of traffic routes for carriages, pedestrians and horseback riders to avoid collisions, by using a series of underpasses and scenic bridges that Vaux designed.  

After their Central Park success, Vaux and Olmsted continued to practice together until 1872, working on diverse projects, such as Prospect and Morningside Parks, the residential community of Riverside, Illinois among other public and private landscapes. 

After they had dissolved their partnership, Vaux continued to work on both architectural and landscape projects and occasionally collaborated again with Olmsted, such as on the 1887 project to improve the New York State Reservation at Niagara Falls.
 

Partner: 1857-1872

Notable Project Involvements while at the Firm:

Central Park, New York, New York
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York
Riverside, Illinois
South Park (now Kennedy Park), Fall River, Massachusetts
New York State Reservation at Niagara, Buffalo, New York