Frederick Law Olmsted_SHIFT

Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision for Boston in the Emerald Necklace incorporated the operations of infrastructure, normally the purview of engineers, into a landscape architecture project. He employed a range of “soft” civil engineering techniques – dredging, retaining and vegetating - to transform the linear park into a functioning drainage basin that simultaneously cleaned the urban waters, forestalled flooding, and provided recreational opportunities.

George Washington Vanderbilt II’s Biltmore Estate, also by Olmsted, incorporated the knowledge of another profession: that of forestry. As opposed to the static, stylized English manner Vanderbilt initially requested, Olmsted designed the greater grounds to yield timber and planned an arboretum; both features remain instructive to foresters to this day.

1878 change to offer = incorporate ecological function with landscape aesthetics