Ward Thompson, C., 1998, Historic American parks and contemporary needs, in: Landscape Journal, 17, 1
- Author : Ward Thompson, C.
- Year : 1998
- Journal/Series : Landscape Journal
- Volume Number (ANNUAL: Counting Volumes of the Year shown above) : 1
- Volume Number (CONSECUTIVE: Counting all Volumes of this Journal ever published) : 17
- Pages : 1-25
- Abstract in English : This article is an attempt to understand and evaluate a particular landscape type over time: the large, nineteenth-century urban park of America’s eastern seaboard, which were developed or worked on by Olmsted. The article draws on master plans for some of the important historic parks and on interviews with their current landscape architects and managers. The article initially looks at design precedents and prototypes for the parks and briefly sets out the historical context in which the parks were first developed. It then structures the study around a frame work derived from historic and contemporary plans for each park to analyse different aspects of current approaches to park management. It concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical issues which challenge landscape architects and managers working on the preservation or renewal of important historic designed landscapes today.
- Comments/Notes : KEYWORDS: parks, park use, history, Olmsted, well-being (paradise), accessibility, size, democratic park use, art, nature, education, park design, management, funding. UTILITY: lecturers/teachers, academic research, students of universities of professional education. This article can be considered as a context or basis of two other interesting articles (see in this database). Together with this one they can be seen as a triptych, especially relevant to students and many teachers, because it demonstrates the sense of historical park research.