Last updated: May 24, 2024
Place
Back Bay Fens
Olmsted Archives, Job #00916, Boston, MA
Quick Facts
Frederick Law Olmsted's challenge in 1878 was to reclaim an area that was described as "the foulest marsh and muddy flats to be found anywhere in Massachusetts..." He succeeded by combining sanitary engineering and landscape art to create what today would be called an ecological restoration. Significantly filled and altered during the 20th century, the Back Bay Fens now provides a variety of recreational opportunities, from gardening, to concerts, to sports. The Fens is surrounded by some of Boston's major cultural and educational institutions.
The first step in Olmsted’s design process was analyzing the site, its features, conditions, and potential challenges. Olmsted accepted the challenge, for he saw an opportunity to create “scenery of a winding, brackish creek within wooded banks...numerous points and coves softened in their outlines by thickets with much delicate variety in tone and color...picturesque elements emphasized by a few necessary structures, strong but unobtrusive”. The Back Bay Fens we enjoy today are thanks to Olmsted’s ability to combine sanitary engineering and landscape architecture to provide for the needs of a dense community.
Source: "Back Bay Fens," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Network
The first step in Olmsted’s design process was analyzing the site, its features, conditions, and potential challenges. Olmsted accepted the challenge, for he saw an opportunity to create “scenery of a winding, brackish creek within wooded banks...numerous points and coves softened in their outlines by thickets with much delicate variety in tone and color...picturesque elements emphasized by a few necessary structures, strong but unobtrusive”. The Back Bay Fens we enjoy today are thanks to Olmsted’s ability to combine sanitary engineering and landscape architecture to provide for the needs of a dense community.
Source: "Back Bay Fens," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Network