Last updated: June 12, 2024
Place
University of Chicago
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
In 1902, Olmsted Brothers was asked to revise early campus plans to include a quadrangle. John Charles and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. recommended pathways leading to the center of campus, providing small vistas to University students and faculty.
They also collaborated with John Coulter, the first chair of the University’s botany department, on a botany pond. Both Olmsted Brothers and Coulter were bringing lush flora into the campus and felt the botany pond would not only serve as a serene place for students, but a scientific corner to observe the life cycles of plants and animals.
Though the botany pond would not get official botanical garden designation until 1997, it reflects a guiding ideal that Olmsted Sr. taught to all who would listen. That “the enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it.”
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. quite literally paved the way for his sons to help plan the University of Chicago; Jackson Park, Washington Park, and the Midway Plaisance, all done while Olmsted Sr. was working on the Columbian Exposition, are walking distance from the University.
Specifically looking at the Midway Plaisance, University of Chicago plans to widen the pedestrian paths to create well-lit spaces that invite people into the Midway to appreciate Olmsted Sr.’s work. Olmsted’s original plan for the Midway incorporated more bridges, and the restoration work being done will reinforce that concept.
If we look at Olmsted Brothers work at the University of Chicago and Olmsted Sr.’s work on Chicago’s parks for the Columbian Exposition, the similarity is that, despite enduring for years, there are still improvements to be made. With the continued restoration of both these landscapes, old visions unable to completed during the Olmsted’s lifetimes are finally being realized.
Source: "University of Chicago," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr