Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Dominguez Estate Company
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
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In 1826, Manuel Dominguez built his estate on 75,000 acres of land gifted to his uncle from the King of Spain, as a thank you for his military service. By the late 1800s, massive tracts of land were being gradually sold off. In 1911, real estate developer Jared Sydney Torrance purchased over three thousand acres to carve out the city of his namesake.
Torrance hired Olmsted Brothers to design his new South Bay community in 1911, with Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. taking lead on this project. Olmsted Jr. was known for integrating structures into a landscape, never wanting those structures to dominate a landscape, instead perfectly fitting in.
The open green expanse of the tree lined El Prado was laid out at an angle, leading a spectator’s eyes towards the towering mountains in the distance. El Prado reflects Olmsted Jr.’s deliberate attempt to work green space and natural beauty into his urban designs.
Olmsted’s plan for Torrance was creative, dividing the town into three distinct districts: the business district at the city’s core (now known as Old Torrance), the industrial district to the North and East of the city’s core, and the residential district to the West.
Olmsted Jr. chose modern architect Irving J. Gill to design Torrance’s original buildings, including the city’s railroad bridge. Olmsted Brothers likely suggested Gill as architect because they had already worked together on the Panama-California Exposition.
As is often the case with Olmsted designed landscapes, the plan for Torrance came out of a different plan, one for a park on the other side of the country. The 1906 plan for Forest Hills Garden in New York is based on the garden city principles, that humans should live in harmony with nature. The Forest Hills plan included streets radiating out from a railway station, which would form the basis for Olmsted Jr.’s Torrance plan.
Source: "South Bay History," The Daily Breeze
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Torrance hired Olmsted Brothers to design his new South Bay community in 1911, with Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. taking lead on this project. Olmsted Jr. was known for integrating structures into a landscape, never wanting those structures to dominate a landscape, instead perfectly fitting in.
The open green expanse of the tree lined El Prado was laid out at an angle, leading a spectator’s eyes towards the towering mountains in the distance. El Prado reflects Olmsted Jr.’s deliberate attempt to work green space and natural beauty into his urban designs.
Olmsted’s plan for Torrance was creative, dividing the town into three distinct districts: the business district at the city’s core (now known as Old Torrance), the industrial district to the North and East of the city’s core, and the residential district to the West.
Olmsted Jr. chose modern architect Irving J. Gill to design Torrance’s original buildings, including the city’s railroad bridge. Olmsted Brothers likely suggested Gill as architect because they had already worked together on the Panama-California Exposition.
As is often the case with Olmsted designed landscapes, the plan for Torrance came out of a different plan, one for a park on the other side of the country. The 1906 plan for Forest Hills Garden in New York is based on the garden city principles, that humans should live in harmony with nature. The Forest Hills plan included streets radiating out from a railway station, which would form the basis for Olmsted Jr.’s Torrance plan.
Source: "South Bay History," The Daily Breeze
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr