Last updated: June 5, 2024
Place
Duke University
Olmsted Archives
Quick Facts
Once endowed in 1924, James B. Duke promised his university to be a beautiful, elite Southern campus to rival the colleges of the Northeast. While Duke had to whittle down a lengthy list of architects to one, Horace Trumbauer, there was only one landscape architecture firm he wanted designing his campus: Olmsted Brothers. Corresponding constantly with Trumbauer, Olmsted Brothers worked with the architect on the layout of buildings.
Olmsted Brother’s plan was heavily influenced by Beaux Arts style design, with long vistas and strict axial designs. A part of their axial design would be Campus Drive, a forested thoroughfare serving as the spine of the campus, centering everything together.
At Duke University, Olmsted Brothers were responsible for grading the land, establishing patterns of canopy trees, designing, and planting both quads, as well as the paths and roadways for the rest of the campus. Olmsted Brothers left Duke with a commitment to excellence in design and planning that still exists today, with the campus retaining a parklike setting of two thousand acres of open space along with six thousand acres of forest.
Source: "Duke University," The Cultural Landscape Foundation
For more information and primary resources, please visit:
Olmsted Research Guide Online
Olmsted Archives on Flickr
Olmsted Online