Public Parks: The Key to Livable Communities (Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture, Design, and Engineering)

"Public Parks" is a fabulous book, and it is a must-read for all those who are interested in parks from virtually any perspective--be it aesthetic, social, governmental, architectural, technical, recreational, planning, real estate development, or just plain enjoyment. It is extremely well-written, thrillingly insightful, and rewardingly informative.In this book, Garvin traces the history of the public park--and, in particular, the origin of the concept of the public park--from its precursors in public squares and town greens (which have served some public function from their inception), the private landscaped estates of European nobility and royalty (which were often referred to as parks, and many of which were accessible to the public, but only on special occasions designated by their owners), and the royal gardens or hunting preserves (to which citizens often considered themselves to have rights of access), through the process by which, after the French Revolution, royal properties in France and elsewhere throughout Europe were fully opened to the public as parks (e.g., Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, the Englische Garden in Munich, and the Royal Parks of London [St. James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park, Regents Park]), to the formal beginnings of the park created qua public park (the 1839 Derby Arboretum [arguably the first completely publically created park, designed specifically for recreation--but not a free park, in that it charged an admission fee], the 1843 Birkenhead Park [the first free public park] the 1844 Victory Park in London [developed by the national government]; the grand creation of parks by Haussmann as part of his redesign of Paris), culminating in the creation of New York's Central Park by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and then onward to the whole sweep of modern public park development."Public Parks" is dedicated to the memory of Olmsted, and this giant of park design is a constant presence throughout the work--sometimes in the background, sometimes in the foreground, but always importantly an influence, as Olmsted indeed has been throughout the entire modern development of the public park.In a later chapter, "Design Influences," Garvin provides an absolutely marvelous overview of the history of "the art of placemaking" as it is practiced by landscape architects in the creation of gardens and parks. He traces the traditions of spatial organization of European garden design, as practiced in 16th century Italy, 17th century France, and 18th century England:*[The Italian, as exemplified by Villa Lanti and Villa d'Este,] "conception of...trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, and water organized into easily understandable, geometric patterns and enhanced by works of art..." (pp. 98f) "..organizing space into a series of outdoor rooms scaled to human use..." (p. 100)*[The French, as represented by the garden of André Le Nôtre at Vaux-le-Vicomte and Versailles] "principles include axial organization and decoration, rectangular carpets of green lawn, geometric plant displays..., formal double rows of trees, geometrically clipped hedges, and strategically placed sculptures." (p. 103) "...on a vastly grander scale...giving the impression that its perfectly rational order extended to the entire world." (p. 104) "..this apparent geometric order becomes more and more of an illusion" (p. 105)*"The massive earthworks, elaborate drainage and water supply systems, and complex planting schemes required to create the great seventeenth-century French gardens were just as important to the finest eighteenth-century English gardens. Their appearance could not be more different, however. Where one is rectilinear and symmetrical, the other is curvilinear and asymmetrical; where one is obviously manmade, the other appears to be natural; where one is organized to fit into a rational scheme that is instantly understandable, the other is organized to be understood only as one experiences the appearing and disappearing views from strolling the gardens." (p. 109)He then goes on to discuss how these different traditions of spatial organization have affected the ongoing design of parks. The influence of the Italian garden did not make its strong appearance on the modern scene until the 20th century, in examples such as Philip Johnson's Water Gardens in Fort Worth, Lawrence Halprin's Freeway Park in Seattle, and Bernard Huet's Park de Bercy in Paris. French garden design had its immediate influence on civic planning throughout the 19th century, in examples like Pierre L'Enfant's 1800 plan for Washington, DC, Daniel Burnham's 1909 plan for Grant Park in Chicago, and, in a more contemporary example, the 1992 Parc André Citroën in Paris. The English garden tradition--and particularly as expressed in the magnificent gardens done by Capability Brown--became a guiding example for Olmsted, and directly embodied in his and Vaux creation of Central Park in NYC and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. (The work of Capability Brown particularly set the stage for Olmsted's: just as Central Park is a totally created environment made to look natural, Brown reshaped the topology of his sites, created and/or relocated the bodies of water, cleared and planted trees and vegetation--all to create a landscape that appears to be the work of nature.)But Garvin's book is no mere history of parks. Its subtitle makes the claim that parks are "The Key to Livable Communities," and Garvin therefore sets out a complete understanding of the functions parks serve toward that end: parks incubate civil society, they contribute to environmentally sustainable existence, they promote physical and mental health, and they provide a framework for urban growth and development. He goes on to quantify the monetary value of parks in the form the general increases in real estate values they create and the focused effect they can create on value for the purpose of making particular areas suitable for development. Public Parks makes eminently clear how essential parks are to all of urban life, and how central they are to the very essence of democratic society.There is an extremely useful discussion of park development, exploring how parks can be a response to existing demand, can be used in anticipation of future demand, or, perhaps most interestingly, can be used opportunistically to create and shape future demand. This is followed by a great chapter on "Site Selection and Adaption." Garvin then turns his attention to the often overlooked fact that parks must be able to evolve to meet changing times and changing needs, using Chicago's two centuries of development--and, particularly, its century of the evolving 1909 Plan of Chicago--as a prime example. And, after a discussion of "Parkways and Park Systems," he turns his attention to the even more overlooked need for the "Stewardship" of parks: parks need actively to be maintained if they are to succeed, and Garvin looks at how New York City has ultimately dealt so successfully with providing ongoing stewardship of its valuable park resources. Crucial to all this are the issues of "Finance and Governance," another area that Garvin leads the reader through informatively and insightfully in an excellent chapter. Garvin's chapter on "The Role of the Public" has some very personally useful insights, as Garvin has great experience dealing with the role of public participation dating most especially from his role as Director of Planning for the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corporation, after 9/11. Each and every section of Public Parks is replete with rich, meaningful examples from around the country and around the world.The book very appropriately culminates with a chapter about "Sustainability: They Key to Success," in which he brings all these aspects together in discussing the various forms of the sustainability and success--social, functional, environmental, financial, political, and aesthetic. And it is most appropriate that this final chapter uses his beloved Central Park as his main example. I love Central Park, and, like Alexander Garvin, when I am asked what is my favorite architecture in New York, I invariably answer, "Central Park."This is a terrific book...get yourself a copy and enjoy!

Interesting case studies