PHOTO: The Olmsted-era Lookout Gazebo in the Arboretum’s New Zealand Forest.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted. Numerous celebrations are taking place around the country to mark the bicentennial of this iconic landscape architect, author, abolitionist, and public servant.
This summer’s Arboretum Bulletin celebrates the life and legacy of Olmsted, including his and his sons’ impact on the Washington Park Arboretum. The Olmsted Brothers firm created the schematic design plan for the Arboretum in 1936, and Frederick Law Olmsted’s design principles still inform the creation of new gardens here today.
Landscape architect Andy Mitton of the Berger Partnership explains how Olmsted’s principles—such as “genius of place” and “orchestration of movement”—were employed in the creation of the New Zealand Forest in the Pacific Connections Garden in 2013.
