#landscape architecture
Hi! Great news. I was accepted into the University of Minnesota’s landscape architecture master’s program and will be pursuing a concentration in sustainable community development. There are also plenty of public art and creative placemaking opportunities that I plan to carry on when I move there.
With that said…I am going to be a new kid in Minneapolis (or St. Paul)! Looking to connect with some people there! Any info that you think I should know about the place, feel free to respond!
Arboretum, Brno
Beautification: A Legacy of Lady Bird Johnson
“The environment after all is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become.”
- Lady Bird Johnson, “Speech at Yale University,” (New Haven, Connecticut, October 9, 1967).
As a champion of conservation efforts and environmental causes, Lady Bird Johnson initiated the Beautification Project to improve the quality of life for residents of Washington, D.C. through the renewal and improvement of public spaces. The environmental and aesthetic improvements of Beautification included tree-lined avenues, floral displays, design guidelines, improvements to pedestrian circulation, renovation of historic buildings, and litter clean-up.
Beautification Luncheon. Foreground L-R: Sec. Stewart Udall, Lady Bird Johnson, Laurance Rockefeller looking at an architectural model of the Washington DC Mall area during a Beautification Luncheon in the White House State Dining Room. The 1967 luncheon in part discussed proposed changes to the Mall (Robert Knudsen, LBJ Library, White House Photo Office collection (C5209-33).
Beautification was far more complex than a garden club project.
According to Johnson, “Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me…beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.”
Lady Bird Johnson and two young people standing among blooming white azaleas during a Beautification Tour of Washington, D.C. (Robert Knudsen, LBJ Library, C1754-25).
Lady Bird Johnson selected her adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. as the pilot city to show the nation how Beautification could enhance the overall quality of life. The city afforded Johnson the perfect opportunity to showcase the potential of the program. The prominence of Washington, D.C. garnered national visibility to highlight the progress of the effort.
“The Story of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson’s Beautification Program” is from the LBJ Library moving picture collection created by the White House Naval Photographic Unit, aka the Navy Films. The films consist of monthly reports on the activities of President and Lady Bird Johnson from 1963-1969. This edited content is from the LBJ Library audiovisual archives.
Lady Bird Johnson formed a coalition of both public and private entities, involving Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, local officials, planners, landscape architects, citizens, and school groups.
Spring brings color to the trees on the East Potomac Golf Course at Hains Point in Washington, D.C. (NPS Photo).
Lady Bird’s legacy is still evident in Washington, D.C. today.
Daffodil drifts soften the hillsides of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, as well as the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Lady Bird Johnson Park. Cherry trees line the road of Hains Point, sprays of blossoms frame views in the monumental core, and the Floral Library near the Washington Monument bursts with color in the springtime. Street trees shade avenues throughout the city, and efforts to clean the city’s waterways have continued into the present.
Find more in the full article at nps.gov: Beautification: A Legacy of Lady Bird Johnson
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Landscape Design at Cabrillo National Monument
San Diego, California
Cabrillo National Monument was established in 1913 to commemorate explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who led a European expedition to the west coast of what is now the United States. A statue of Cabrillo gazes out over the San Diego Bay, where his sails arrived ashore on September 28, 1542.
The historic importance of Cabrillo National Monument is associated with multiple resources and periods of time.
Before it became part of the National Park System, it was part of Fort Rosecrans, the headquarters of the WWII harbor defenses of San Diego. Several lighthouses have shone from this shoreline location, aiding navigation and attracting visitors.
Point Loma Lighthouse at sunset (NPS Photo).
More recently, the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center Historic District landscape is associated with the modern design principles of the NPS Mission 66 program.
Mission 66
Mission 66 was a period of profoundly new design ideas in national parks, expressed through a system-wide program of development. In response to the increasing crowds and automobile traffic of the 1950s, and in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the NPS in 1966, the agency embarked on a plan to overhaul park facilities with an emphasis on improving roads and parking, visitor facilities, and administration, housing areas, and concessionaire areas.
The Cabrillo National Monument was one of the parks that would undergo extensive changes during Mission 66, a critical factor in the development of the site into a modern and fully accessible park. Between 1963 and 67, the Mission 66 master plan added a new entrance road, parking areas, and a Visitor Center with an interior courtyard and series of interconnected indoor and outdoor landscape spaces. It is an example of how Mission 66-era development used concepts associated with modernism in landscape architecture, expressed in a southern California coastal context.
Walkway to the Cabrillo statue at the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center Historic District landscape (NPS Photo).
More about the Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center Historic District landscape
- Learn more in the Cultural Landscape Inventory report
- Explore the cultural and natural resources at Cabrillo National Monument
- Cultural Landscape Profile: Cabrillo National Monument Visitor Center Historic District
Read more about Mission 66
- How Mission 66 Shaped the Visitor Experience at National Parks (National Trust for Historic Preservation, 2/8/17)
- Mission 66 Visitor Centers: The History of a Building Type(Sarah Allaback, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2000) - online book
- Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma (Ethan Carr, University of Massachusetts Press in association with Library of American Landscape History, 2007)
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David Williston
David Williston’s legacy can be seen through his work as landscape architect, educator, and horticulturalist.
Recognized as the first professionally-trained African American landscape architect, Williston oversaw the development of the Tuskegee Institute campus, where he also taught as professor of horticulture.
Discover more:Learning from Leaders: David Williston
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Learning in Action
The Designing the Parks program is not your typical internship.
Each year since 2013, the program has introduced a cohort of college students and recent graduates to National Park Service design and planning professions through projects related to cultural landscape stewardship.
In the internships, hosted by the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation and made possible by partner organizations, each participant focuses on an in-depth project that directly engages with a national park unit.
Designing the Parks
Our most recent article highlights the Designing the Parks program, including recent projects and partner organizations: Designing the Parks: Learning in Action
Also, don’t miss the Designing the Parks blog written by the team of interns. Seriously, it’s good.
Discover More:
Video Production Intern, Vanessa Hartsuiker, films on the grounds at Chatham Manor at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park for a cultural landscape report video (NPS Photo).
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Internship Opportunities
Interns, called Associates, are integral to the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation team and work under the mentorship of experienced landscape architects, horticulturalists, and planners. Associates engage in an extensive program of trainings, educational opportunities, and field trips to enrich their experience.
Want a closer look? Don’t miss the Designing the Parks internship blog.
These paid internships vary in duration and focus but are typically offered to graduating students and young professionals in landscape architecture, horticulture, historic preservation, history, GIS, or related fields, who seek professional experience in cultural landscape preservation.
These positions are supported through a partnership with the National Council of Preservation Education. For more information about each position, including desired qualifications, compensation and project details, download the full announcements at the link above.
Please send application materials by March 1, 2020.
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Thestep well or step pond at the Nahargarh fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Built by Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh in 1734.
Pictures from: letourdeindia,edward burtynsky,lindsaywashere
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