I wax rhapsodic on landscape architecture as a result of a lecture I attended at The Morgan Library that last week in May on Great Romantic Landscapes. The lecture was in conjunction with an exhibition that showed the European landscapes that inspired one of my favorite poets, William Wordsworth. I always thought that Wordsworth and the Romantics were writing about natural landscapes, so it surprised me to learn that many of their subjects were planned gardens-albeit elaborate gardens-in Europe. I think I always assumed that Central Park was carved out of a natural area that already existed in New York. Not so. Visionary architects and designers, like Frederic Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux, were provided monumental palettes by equally visionary civic leaders who realized that they needed to set aside natural landscapes before the titans of commerce and real estate usurped the land for profit. The original 770 acres (now expanded to 843 acres) were cleared of the poor African American, Irish and German inhabitants and amid years of construction and politics the final "Greensward" plan was finally completed. (The appraised value of these acres is now $528,783,552,000). One inspiration for a city park that included bridges and hills and lakes was the Greenwood Cemetary in Brooklyn which I wrote about my May 2 blog.
The story of the Central Park Conservancy is almost as compelling as the original construction of Central Park. For decades, Central Park fell into disrepair due to poor maintenance and the financial problems of New York City. The Conservancy is a non-profit founded in 1980 that worked to clean up and restore the Park to its original design. They now have a public/private partnership with the City of New York and the park's vibrant beauty bears witness to the work and vision of hundreds of native New Yorkers. They have maintained and restored over 50 fountains//monuments/sculptures. They ensure that children can enjoy the 21 playgrounds, and philosophers and lovers can spend time on the 9000 benches. Beth and her runners' club take advantage of the 10 miles of loop roads and the rest of us meander on the 58 miles of pedestrian paths. Each of the 24,000 trees is documented in a database and each is identified by GPS positioning. These trees attract 275 species of migratory birds and thousands of birders. (At this point I think it is significant to note that the designer's name-Vaux-rhymes with hawks!) One of the best views of the park is from the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and my video provides a great panorama.
Central Park was revived by politicians as well as the conservancy-Robert Moses made the initial effort to clean up the Park in the 1970's. I mention this in appreciation of Mayor Bloomberg's support of the wonderful Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy which seeks to reclaim the beautiful East River Waterfront for the next generation of New Yorkers. We were there for the opening of the Pier One park and look forward to returning in several years to see the completion of this ambition project.
There are other landscaping jewels that I've been able to visit and learn about this year. Some of them are from the 19th century, like Frederic Edwin Church's Persian masterpiece, Olana on the Hudson River. Others celebrate artists of the 21st century like Maya Lin's Storm King Wavefield. Each demonstrates how we can express ourselves in nature and create a space for future generations to enjoy.
Penultimate-I love that word. I used to think it meant "beyond ultimate" and something special. However, the more mundane meaning is that this is the second to last chapter. My next entry will summarize my New York adventure and close the book on this time of my life.
No comments:
Post a Comment