Engaging, deeply researched, and richly illustrated books require significant time and expense. We make this investment to ensure that LALH books and films provide foundational scholarship and insight to students, preservationists, landscape architects, civic leaders, and the general public for decades to come. LALH books and films are made affordable through grants and generous contributions of our supporters. Please consider making a charitable gift to help us develop one.
HELP US MAKE A DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT CALVERT VAUX!
Although trained as an architect, Calvert Vaux (1823 – 1895) considered himself first and foremost an artist able to translate the spirit of nineteenth-century Transcendentalism into the language of landscape design. With Frederick Law Olmsted, Vaux was responsible for two of America’s greatest works of art—Central and Prospect Parks.
Based on a new book by Francis R. Kowsky, the new film explores these and other internationally significant projects, including the innovative system of parks and boulevards Vaux and Olmsted designed for Buffalo, the master plan for the Niagara Reservation, and several commissions Vaux completed independently.
Vaux’s transformative contributions to American landscape design have for too long been overlooked. The forthcoming film paints a more nuanced picture than the one we are accustomed to, brilliantly illuminating the impressive scope of Vaux’s influence on the profession he insisted be named “landscape architecture.”
A film in the North America by Design series. All supporters donating $250 or more will be listed in the credits.
HELP US PUBLISH A NEW BOOK ABOUT INNOCENTI – WEBEL!
In 1931, Richard K. Webel and Umberto Innocenti formed one of the most significant landscape architectural partnerships in midcentury America. Based in Roslyn, NY, and initially specializing in private estates, Innocenti – Webel soon expanded geographical range to the Deep South and scale of projects to include parks, corporate campuses, museums, hotels, racetracks, an airport, two World’s Fairs, and an innovative plan for the National Mall. Master plans for Furman University and the University of South Carolina, the vast Milliken campus in Spartanburg, and plans for several federal projects dominated the 1950s and ’60s. Through all this work, the partners were guided by classical principles—a reflection of Webel’s Harvard roots and his years at the American Academy in Rome. Innocenti’s lyrical planting compositions, highly unusual for the time, featured full-grown trees and remarkably complex understory combinations. Author Robin Karson, whose works include Fletcher Steele and A Genius for Place, discusses more than fifty of the firm’s major projects. Illustrated with plans, drawings, and fine photographs by Samuel H. Gottscho.