Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Olmsted Archives, Job #03960, New York City, NY
Quick Facts
Location:
New York City, NY
Significance:
Olmsted Designed Landscape
MANAGED BY:
After Frederick Law Olmsted’s revolutionary work on Prospect Park, the City of Brooklyn purchased an additional 52-acres of land, for additional park space but with the hope that it could be turned into a garden.
The land was left undeveloped until 1910, at which point Olmsted Brothers were called in to create the sites first plan. John Charles and Frederick Jr. worked closely with C. Stuart Gager, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s first director. Gager, stationed in Missouri before making the trip to Brooklyn, was in constant communication not only with Olmsted Brothers, but also McKim, Mead, and White, who were commissioned to design the gardens laboratory and plant houses.
Though Brooklyn Botanic Garden is largely the product of Harold Caparn, the landscape architect chosen to when construction on the Garden was commenced, Olmsted Brothers original design still seeps through in every corner. A walk through Brooklyn Botanic Garden will transport you back in time, with a chance to learn from the some of the country’s leading landscape architects.
Source: "Brooklyn Botanic Garden," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Network
The land was left undeveloped until 1910, at which point Olmsted Brothers were called in to create the sites first plan. John Charles and Frederick Jr. worked closely with C. Stuart Gager, Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s first director. Gager, stationed in Missouri before making the trip to Brooklyn, was in constant communication not only with Olmsted Brothers, but also McKim, Mead, and White, who were commissioned to design the gardens laboratory and plant houses.
Though Brooklyn Botanic Garden is largely the product of Harold Caparn, the landscape architect chosen to when construction on the Garden was commenced, Olmsted Brothers original design still seeps through in every corner. A walk through Brooklyn Botanic Garden will transport you back in time, with a chance to learn from the some of the country’s leading landscape architects.
Source: "Brooklyn Botanic Garden," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Network