IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALISATION ON LANDSCAPE DESIGN

AND
PARK MOVEMENTS IN AMERICA
 CONTENTS
 INDUSTRIALISATION
Introduction
Beginning and evolution
Spread
Impact
 PARK MOVEMENT IN AMERICA
Park movement
Fedrick Law Olmstead
Olmstead Park Design Principles
 CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK
 PROSPECT PARK
 BROOKLYN
 RIVERSIDE ESTATE, CHICAGO
 THE PARKWAY, BOSTON
 WORLD’S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO
 INDUSTRIALISATION

o INTRODUCTION

> The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new

manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime
between 1820 and 1840.
> The commencement of the Industrial Revolution is closely
linked to a small number of innovations, beginning in the second half of
the 18th century.
> Industrial Revolution as a widespread replacement of manual
labour by machines that began in Britain in the 18th century.
> Radical changes at every level of civilization throughout the
world.
o BEGINNING AND IMPACT

>Industrial Revolution transformed how people worked

> Machines replaced animal and human power to produce goods
> Began in England and spread to the rest of Europe and the
United States by the middle of the 1800’s
>Early 1700’s farmers in England improved farming methods to
grow larger amounts of crops
> Large landowners forced smaller landowners off of their land
and many moved to the cities across England
 > Textile (cloth) industry was the first to be transformed.
Textile manufacturers began to house all parts of production in factories
built near rivers and streams
>Steam power was developed by James Watt as a source of
power to run factories
> Early 1800’s Robert McAdam improves the way roads are
built • Private investors build roads and charge fees to people using
them
o SPREAD
Industrialization in the United States
> By early 1800’s industrialization had spread to the US and continental
Europe
>US has same resources as Great Britain
> Mineral wealth, immigrants and farm workers for labor
> Had more open land than Great Britain
> War of 1812 US could not trade with European countries because of British
naval blockade, forced the US to use its own resources and develop industry
> Began in the textile industry
> 1789 first textile factory opened in Pawtucket, RI
> Center of textile production in early 1800’s was in Lowell, MA
> Provided economic opportunity and independence to women that had few
other options open to them
o IMPACT
> Widened the gap between wealthy and poor nations
>Led to Imperialism (policy of extending rule over other countries) by
industrial countries
> Industrial countries needed raw materials from other parts of the world to
supply factories policy of extending rule
> Industrial countries needed markets for their products
>Revolutions in industry, communication and agriculture changed lives of
people in Western Europe and the United States
> Changed every aspect of society from life expectancy, population,
wealth, and health
> Development of middle class led to greater opportunities for education
and democratic participation
 PARK MOVEMENT IN AMERICA
. Physician Benjamin Ward Richardson wrote Hygeia, City of Health
(1876) envisioning:
> air pollution control
> water purification
> sewage handling
> public laundries
> public health inspectors
> elimination of alcohol & tobacco
> replacement of the gutter with the park as the site of
children’s play
. such concerns motivated the Parks Movement
o THE PARK MOVEMENT

> grew out of landscape archit. & garden design

> shifted from private to public settings
> naturalistic parks were created in the U.S. by Frederick Law Olmstead, whose
career started with Central Park, New York, 1857
. goals:
< separate transportation modes
< support active and passive uses
< collect water
< promote moral pass-times
Thomas Jefferson and F L Olmstead were the two personalities who stand out for their
influence on landscape design.
Landscape design was pioneered with F L Olmstead and Calvert Vaux.
The public park movement stated in 1830.
• It was to improve health in the overcrowded conditions of the rapidly growing industrial
towns.
• By the end of the Victorian era (a period of population rise) the need for public open
space had become widely appreciated.
• Increasingly ,parks additionally became symbols of civic pride. It provided inhabitanats
and visitors with attractive surroundings to enjoy leisure
• To encourage its use many attractive features were also provided
• Music
• Sport Facilities
• Horticulture displays
• Coupled to a museum , library , art gallery
• Open space within a town brought with it many benefits. Councils were sought to aquire
land for parks and recreation grounds.
• Park movement was at its peak when the gift of park from a wealthy merchant was a
common occurance.
o FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED

. 1822-1903
. Advanced quite impressively for a park superintendent without a college degree
with Calvert Vaux (1847) won the competition & went on to design:
> Prospect Park (1865-1873)
> Chicago's Riverside subdivision
> Buffalo's park system (1868-1876),
> the park at Niagara Falls (1887)
. In later years worked on Boston’s park system, “the Emerald Necklace” and the
1893 World's Fair in Chicago
o OLMSTED’S PARK DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Olmsted’s parks were not natural but they were “naturalistic” or “organic” in form
This form was seen as uplifting urban dwellers and addressing the social and
psychological impacts of crowding environmental determinism.
1. SCENERY: design spaces in which movement creates constant opening up of
new views and “obscurity of detail further away”
2. SUITABILITY: respect the natural scenery and topography of the site
3. STYLE:
 “Pastoral” = open greensward with small bodies of water and scattered
trees and groves create a soothing, restorative atmosphere
 “Picturesque = profuse planting, especially with shrubs, creepers and
ground cover, on steep and broken terrain create a sense of the richness and
bounteousness of nature, produce a sense of mystery with light and shade
4. SUBORDINATION: subordinate all elements to the overall design and the effect it is
intended to achieve: “Art to conceal Art”
5. SEPARATION:
 of areas designed in different styles
 of ways, in order to insure safety of use and reduce distractions
 of conflicting or incompatible uses
6. SANITATION: promote both the physical and mental health of users
7. SERVICE: meet fundamental social and psychological needs
The progress can be charted in 5 stages :
• Central park ,New York ( 1857)
• Prospect Park
• Brooklyn
• Riverside Estate ,Chicago
• The Parkway ,Boston
• World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago (1893)
 CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK
Central Park introduced a new concept of landscape urban space that
was inward looking , large in size but deliberately small in its many rich
and varied elements.
PROSPECT PARK,
BROOKLYN
 RIVERSIDE, ILLINOIS

> designed by Olmsted, 1869

> a prototype suburb
> 9 mi. from Chicago
> fashionable location for the wealthy to live
> often copied
•Riverside is arguably the first planned community in the United States, designed in
1869
by Calvert Vaux and Fredrick Law Olmstead.
• The village was incorporated in 1875.
• It was an extension of the theory of park design to include domestic life
• it was an attempt to break the rigid grid iron of all American town-planning.
 THE WORLD’S
COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION,
1893 (CHICAGO WORLD’S
FAIR)
> The World's Columbian Exposition, celebrating the 400th anniversary of
Christopher Columbus's landing in America, was actually held in 1893, a year
later than had been planned.
> New York City, Washington, D.C., St.Louis, and Chicago competed to host
> N.Y. millionares Cornelius Vanderbilt, William Waldorf Astor and J. P.
Morgan pledged to raise $15 million to cover the city’s expenses
> Chicago’s mercantile and meatpacking millionaires Marshall Field, Philip
Armour and Gustavus Swift countered with an offer
> Editor of the New York Sun, dubbed Chicago "that windy city.
> "April 25, 1890, President Benjamin Harrison signed the act that
designated Chicago as the site of the exposition.
> It took three frantic years of preparation and work to produce the
exposition. Although dedication ceremonies were held on October 21,
1892, the fairgrounds were not opened to the public until May 1, 1893.
> The exposition closed on October 30, 1893.
o ARCHITECTURE
> The exposition occupied 630 acres
Frederick Law Olmsted, America's foremost landscape architect,
was responsible for laying out the fairgrounds. Jackson Park, the product of
that effort, is still one of Chicago's most beautiful parks
> Planners like Daniel Burnham selected a classical architectural
theme for the fair
> More than 200 buildings occupied the exposition's grounds; today,
only one remains.
> Buildings had exterior walls of staff, a temporary building material
made from plaster of paris and hemp fiber. Bright paint gave the exposition
the nickname of the White City