Born in Hartford Connecticut in 1822, Frederick Law Olmsted had early health problems due to being poisoned by a somac plant which prevernted him from attending Yale. He became a seaman and a prominent journalist amongst other things before dedicating himself to design. In 1848 he bought a 125 acre farm on Staten Island which encouraged him ten years later to enter a competition to design New York's Central Park which he won, being chosen by Calvert Vaux, an English Architect who admired Olmsted's ideas.
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| A Painting of Frederick Law Olmsted |
Olmsted's ideas are still to be seen in Central Park and of course in all the parks that he designed after that, that is that parks are for the public. Green Spaces are to be enjoyed by everybody and not to be gated off for the rich. An interesting thing to note is that it is commonly agreed that Olmsted's inspiration for Central Park came on his visit to Birkenhead Park in Liverpool, England. If you look, the two designs are very similar, going to show that even the best designers need and use inspiration from other designers and the world around them.
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| Boston's Emerald Necklace Park-A popular approach to park design to this day. |
Other notable examples of his work include Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Boston's Emerald Necklace Park and Belle Isle park New York. Olmsted was an early champion of the conservation movement that is now a key part for global thinking on the environment, and was crucial in helping found the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1898.
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| Birkenhead Park near Liverpool, England- A source of inspiration for Central Park New York |
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