Boston Flora

Tag: Charles Eliot

  • Tuesday, October 10, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted Lecture: The Blue Hills – Charles Eliot’s Design Experiment (1893 – 1897)

    Portrait of Anita Berrizbeitia, who wears glasses and a black shirt.

    Anita Berrizbeitia is a Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She served as Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture between 2015-2022 and as Program Director of the Master in Landscape Architecture Degree Programs between 2012-2015. Her research explores nineteenth and twentieth-century public realm landscapes, with interests in material culture, urban political ecology, and the productive functions of landscapes in processes of urbanization and climate adaptation. Her research on Latin American cities and landscapes focuses, in addition, on the role of large-scale infrastructural projects on territorial organization, climate adaptation, and on the interface between landscape and emerging urbanization.

    A licensed landscape architect, she has worked on a broad range of projects and competitions, including urban design, campus planning, public parks, and residential gardens. She is a consultant for national and international landscape architectural firms and has served on juries of multiple design competitions in the US and abroad, including Chair of the Jury of the Rome Prize at the American Academy in Rome, and design competitions in Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Spain, and the Middle East.  At Harvard, she serves on the university’s Design Review Board, the Harvard University Committee on the Arts and the Radcliffe Institute Public Art Competition.  She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Landscape Architecture (JoLA). Before joining the GSD in 2009 she was a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania.

    At the GSD she has taught core Landscape Architecture studios and core Urban Design studios. Her option studios have focused on urban and territorial scale infrastructures, on emergent urbanization, and climate adaptation. She has also taught design theory in both the core and elective curricula.

    Berrizbeitia is editor of Urban Landscape—Critical Concepts in Built Environment Series; editor of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates: Reconstructing Urban Landscapes (Yale University Press), which received an ASLA Honor Award; author of Roberto Burle Marx in Caracas: Parque del Este, 1956–1961 (Penn Press), awarded the inaugural J.B. Jackson Book Prize in 2007 from the Foundation for Landscape Studies; and co-author with Linda Pollak of Inside/Outside: Between Architecture and Landscape, which won an ASLA Merit Award. Her essays have been published widely in journals and anthologies, including the Journal of Landscape Architecture (JoLA); Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes; Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts (National Gallery of Art); Cultural History of Gardens (Berg Publishers); Sao Paolo: A Graphic Biography (University of Texas Press), Cerros Islas Santiago (Fundación Cerros Islas); Recovering Landscape (Princeton Architectural Press); CASE: Downsview Park Toronto (Prestel); Large Parks (Princeton Architectural Press); and Retorno al Paisaje (Evren) among others. With Diane Davis, she co-edited Harvard Design Magazine 49: Publics (2021).

    Berrizbeitia received a BA from Wellesley College in Studio Art and an MLA from the GSD. She was awarded the Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome in 2006.

    This lecture explores how developments in the earth sciences—specifically geology, evolutionism, and biogeography—ushered in advances in design methodologies for large public–realm landscapes in late nineteenth-century Boston.  

    In her earlier work on Charles Eliot’s Metropolitan Park System of 1892, she argued that geology had provided a framework for re-envisioning what had become a fragmented territory as a unified whole. Eliot proposed the region’s formative processes and the thick and unseen strata underlying the visible and varied topography in and around Boston as the foundation for a new political geography for a rapidly expanding city. For the Blue Hills, the largest of the reservations of the park system, Eliot turns his attention to the surface, proposed as a mantle of vegetation that drapes over the hills’ granitic foundation. Eliot introduces methods of biogeography to fieldwork, of forestry and conservation, and of what today we call restoration ecology. However, Eliot also prompts us to reconsider the role of the wild and wilderness, and of aesthetics in relationship to a growing public. Rather than being the product of a singular or unified framework, his proposal shows us the intertwining of multiple design methods and ways of knowing that join notions of the “wild” and of the “urban.” 

    Harvard Graduate School of Design is proud to host this October 10 Frederick Law Olmsted free lecture at Gund Hall’s Piper Auditorium beginning at 6:30 pm. For complete details visit www.gsd.harvard.edu

  • Thursday, December 2, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Beauty, Efficiency, and Economy: A Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Landscape Architect, Planner, and Conservationist, Online

    Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. (1870–1957), was preordained to landscape architecture by his famous father (1833–1903). Fortunately, he proved a talented professional in his own right, making a significant mark through innovative and creative work in city and community planning, in park development, and through his life-long advocacy for land preservation and conservation. For too long the fact that he shared the name of one of the most prominent figures in the practice of landscape architecture in America has obscured his major contributions to the field. Elizabeth Hope Cushing’s new book focuses on the life and professional career of this talented son of a famous father. Her talk provides an overview of his life and contributions to the national landscape, highlighting his importance in American landscape history. As respondent, Keith Morgan, professor emeritus, Boston University, will explore some of the challenges Olmsted, Jr. overcame in building on and expanding his father’s legacy in landscape architecture.

    Elizabeth Hope Cushing is a practicing landscape historian, and author of the newly published Beauty, Efficiency, and Economy: A Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Landscape Architect, Planner, and Conservationist and Arthur A. Shurcliff, Design Preservation, and the Creation of the Colonial Williamsburg Landscape. She is co-author of Community by Design, The Olmsted Firm and the Development of Brookline, Massachusetts.

    Keith N. Morgan is a professor emeritus of History of Art & Architecture and of American & New England Studies at Boston University. His books include Charles A. Platt. The Artist as Architect (MIT, 1985); a new introduction for Charles Eliot, Landscape Architect (University of Massachusetts Press, 1999); and Community by Design: The Olmsted Firm and the Development of Brookline, Massachusetts with Elizabeth Hope Cushing and Roger Reed (University of Massachusetts Press, 2013).

    To order Beauty, Efficiency, and Economy: A Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Landscape Architect, Planner and Conservationist click the link. Books ordered by December 9, 2021 with the code OlmstedDec2021 receive a 10% discount. The lecture is free, but registration is required. A Zoom link will be sent to your email after registering.

    PLEASE DONATE
    Make a contribution to support the Friends of Fairsted Lecture Series. 

  • Wednesday, June 20, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Olmsted History Walk

    At the turn of the century Frederick Law Olmsted, the countries most famous landscape architect came to World’s End and designed the landscape in a way that would forever influence every visitor to the property. This walk celebrates his life and work by taking a closer look at the designed landscape of World’s End in Hingham and uncovering his vision for the 251 acre peninsula.

    Join The Trustees on Wednesday, June 20 from 6:30 – 8 for a guided walk along the century old cart paths and step back in time to learn all about Olmsted’s involvement at Worlds End from a landscape architect’s point of view. We’ll discuss the original land owners of the property, Olmsted’s design work, and how World’s End eventually became a Trustees reservation. We’ll also take a close look at the relationship between Olmsted and his protégé Charles Eliot, the founder of The Trustees of Reservations. Preregistration is recommended for this program, while day-of admission will be accepted. Member adult $5, nonmember $10. Contact worldsend@thetrustees.org or visit http://www.thetrustees.org.

    Image result for Olmsted World's End Hingham

  • Sunday, October 8, 2:00 pm – George Bucknam Dorr: From Jamaica Pond to Commonwealth Avenue

    George Bucknam Dorr, known as the “Father of Acadia”, was the founder of the oldest national park east of the Mississippi River. The roots of George B. Dorr’s land conservation achievements are deeply embedded on the Jamaica Pond shoreline where he was born in 1853. Childhood exposure to other Massachusetts landscapes also shaped his later success on the mid-Maine coast. Throughout Dorr’s life, notables with attachments to Jamaica Plain–Charles S. Sargent, Edith Wharton, Francis Parkman, Ellen Swallow Richards, Henry & Charles P. Bowditch, Margaret Fuller, and Charles Eliot–kept the Father of Acadia National Park tethered to the place where he spent the first decade of his life. Speaker Ronald H. Epp is the author of Creating Acadia National Park: The Biography of George Bucknam Dorr and has spent the last two decades researching the Massachusetts families that influenced the development of conservation philanthropy.
    Fee Free, but registration required. This October 8 lecture begins at 2 pm in the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. Offered in collaboration with the Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Wednesday, April 26, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm – Eliot’s Reforestation of Blue Hill

    The final speaker for the Wakefield Estate’s 2017 Stone Soup & Speaker Series is Tom Palmer, of Neponset River Water Association, discussing Charles Eliot’s efforts to restore the Blue Hills’ woods and how it contributed to what we see today. Reception at 6, lecture at 6:30. $10 suggested donation. The Wakefield Estate is located at 1465 Brush Hill Road in Milton. To rsvp or for more information, please call 617-333-0924. Space is limited and this year’s series has been very popular, verging on “standing room only” attendance.  Image from www.massvacation.com.

  • Wednesday, March 29, 6:00 pm – Creation of Metropolitan Parks System

    On Wednesday, March 29, the Wakefield Estate’s Stone Soup and Speaker Series continues with remarks by Alan Banks, Supervisory Park Ranger at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline. Banks will explore how industrial developments in the 19th century led Milton’s own visionary Charles Eliot to create Trustees of the Reservation and ultimately, the Boston Metropolitan Parks System, one of the first of its type in the world.

    This year’s Stone Soup & Speaker Series, held on the last Wednesday of the month through April, is looking closely at several key periods of our local history to highlight stories of our past that reveal important connections to our present and future.

    Soup is served at 6:00 pm followed by the talk at 6:30 pm. $10 suggested donation. Space is limited and this year’s series has been very popular, verging on “standing room only” attendance. Pre-registration is important and required. To RSVP or for more information, please call 617-333-0924. The Wakefield Estate is located at 1465 Brush Hill Road in Milton.

     

  • Thursday, May 19, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Landscape Designers of the Cornish Art Colony

    Join landscape and architectural historian Keith Morgan to learn about the celebrated and visionary landscape designers of the Cornish Art Colony in Cornish, NH. The lecture will take place at the Museum of Old Newbury, 98 High Street in Newburyport on Thursday, May 19 at 6:30 pm.

    The Cornish Art Colony began in the late 19th century under the influence of renowned sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The area’s bucolic setting and artists’ camaraderie attracted painters, sculptors, designers, and writers to spend their summers working and socializing in and around Cornish. Morgan’s talk will highlight prominent landscape designers of the this art colony, including Charles Platt and Ellen Biddle Shipman.

    A scholar of nineteenth and twentieth century American and European architecture, Morgan is interested in the relationships between architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture, and he has taught at Boston University since 1980. He has served as the director of the Preservation Studies Program and of the American and New England Studies Program and as the chairman of the Art History Department on two occasions. He is a former national president of the Society of Architectural Historians. His recent publications include Shaping an American Landscape: The Art and Architecture of Charles A. Platt, Boston Architecture, 1975-1990, which he coauthored with Professor Naomi Miller, and a new introduction for the republication of Charles Eliot, Landscape Architect.

    Reception at 6:30pm Program at 7:00pm
    Museum Members: $5 Non-Members: $15
    Please RSVP to info@newburyhistory.org or 978-462-2681

  • Sunday, June 21, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm – A Short Walk on a Long Day: The Blue Hills Reservation

    In his 1890 Waverly Oaks report, Charles Eliot suggested that Boston residents look beyond the city and into the suburbs for natural scenery to foster and preserve “an education in the love of beauty” and a means of “human enjoyment.” Contemplate Eliot’s efforts and ideas as the National Park Service leads a Summer Solstice walking tour on Sunday, June 21 from 5 – 7 to ascend the “Great Blue Hill”, which at 635 ft, is the highest point within 10 miles of the Atlantic coast south of central Maine. Prepare for moderate hike over rugged and rocky terrain. Meets at the Trailside Museum Parking lot. Operated in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Blue Hills Trailside Museum is the interpretive center for the state-owned Blue Hills Reservation and features a natural history museum and outdoor wildlife exhibits. The animals on display, including snowy owls and a river otter, have been rescued and would not survive in the wild. Free. For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/frla/planyourvisit/walks-and-talks.htm.  Photo from www.bu.edu.

  • Wednesday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Arthur Shurcliff: From Boston to Colonial Williamsburg

    Join historian and author Elizabeth Hope Cushing on Wednesday, December 3, at 6 pm in the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, as she speaks of landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.

    In 1928, the landscape architect and preservationist Arthur A. Shurcliff (1870–1957) began what became one of the most important examples of the American Colonial Revival landscape—Colonial Williamsburg. But before this, Shurcliff honed his skills in Boston. An 1894 engineering graduate of MIT with an interest in landscape design, Shurcliff, on the advice of Frederick Law Olmsted and with the aid of his mentor, Charles Eliot, pieced together courses at Harvard College, the Lawrence Scientific School, and the Bussey Institute. He then spent eight years working in the Olmsted office, acquiring a broad and sophisticated knowledge of the profession. Opening his own practice in 1904, Shurcliff emphasized his expertise in town planning, preparing plans for towns surrounding Boston. He designed recreational spaces that Bostonians still enjoy today, including significant aspects of the Franklin Park Zoo and the Charles River Esplanade. Historian Elizabeth Hope Cushing will speak of Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.  Fee Free, but registration requested. You may register on line at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1381&DayPlannerDate=12/3/2014. Seating is limited. A reception will follow the lecture.

    The Esplanade Association is please to be a co-sponsor of this event along with the Library of American Landscape History, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Friends of Fairsted, the and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

  • Boston’s First Permanent Indoor Farmers’ Market Announced

    The Trustees of Reservations and the Boston Public Market announced an important new partnership that will bring the Trustee’s experience and expertise in community programming to the planned public market slated to open in summer 2015.

    Within the Market, an area devoted to outreach and programming, will be managed and staffed by the Trustees of Reservations, offering year-round educational opportunities for customers of the Market, residents, and visitors. The programs presented and produced by the Trustees and delivered with a diverse set of non-profit partners will address culinary education, health and nutrition, youth engagement, sustainability and conservation, and will include programing such as chef-led cooking demonstrations, nutrition classes, market tours, and workshops.

    “The Trustees of Reservations have a strong commitment to connecting people with locally grown food,” said Governor Duval Patrick. “They are an invaluable partner for the Boston Public Market’s outreach programs and will help ensure the success of this exciting new civic institution.”

    The agreement is the culmination of an ongoing collaboration between The Trustees and the Boston Public Market and constitutes the first significant non-profit partnership announcement for the Market as it nears its opening date. The two organizations have worked together to raise funds for the design and build-out of the market, especially the demonstration kitchen which will serve as an educational hub.

    “Creating a public market is most importantly about the people: the ones who will grow and produce the food, and the ones who will come to enjoy, eat, and celebrate all that New England offers,” said Liz Morningstar, CEO of the Boston Public Market. “The Trustees has a proven track record of attracting, educating, and engaging people across Massachusetts about local food, agriculture, and healthy lifestyles, and we are pleased to have them as a founding partner.”

    “Serving as the program partner of the market allows the Trustees to bring our knowledge about connecting people to places and ideas in a meaningful way for the Commonwealth,” said Barbara Erickson, President and CEO, Trustees of Reservations. “We believe that the new Boston Public Market will highlight the best of Massachusetts and New England agriculture, nature, and fisheries through a vibrant civic center. These ideas are core to the Trustees’ work so it’s only appropriate that we be a key partner in helping bring this place to life.”

    The Trustees’ programming at the Boston Public Market will reach a broad range of visitors and residents. The Trustees currently offers around 900 public programs on about 60 of its 113 reservations annually, but the new arrangement with the Public Market constitutes the first time the organization will offer programming on a site that is not its own reservation. Founded in 1891 by Charles Eliot, the Trustees has offered a regular selection of walks, talks, hikes, classes, workshops, tours, and performances to its many visitors, members, neighbors, and community groups as part of its effort to get more people to enjoy and experience its growing portfolio of sites. Annually, the organization estimates that it has more than 1.2 million visitors on its reservations and about 250,000 attending its public programs.

    Historically, the Trustees has protected over 200 farm properties, including the nation’s oldest, Appleton Farms, and the organization is the largest private farm-land owner in the Commonwealth. Recently the Trustees began to see its properties as ways to help facilitate healthy connections to locally grown food. In the last 15 years, the organization has begun to focus on building a sustainable food system and is actively involved in community supported agriculture (CSA), farm stands, pantry donation, “food by prescription,” apprenticeships, day camps, and a full-fledged dairy operation. Last year, it launched Appleton Cooks, a culinary based program out of a demonstration kitchen at Appleton Farms and this fall has opened Powisset Cooks, a similar program at Powisset Farm in Dover.

    The Boston Public Market will be a permanent, year-round, self-sustaining market featuring fresh locally-sourced food brought directly to and from the diverse people that make up Massachusetts and New England. The market’s permanent, indoor location on the Greenway directly above the Haymarket MBTA station is slated to open next year. The Boston Public Market currently runs two seasonal farmers markets each year along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, featuring over 30 local producers.