The Influence Of Frederick Law Olmsted

Many have argued that Frederick Law Olmsted played the single most important role in the comprehensive planning of the World Fair. Olmsted and his partner Codman are credited with the general scheme and layout of the exposition through the land and water arrangement in addition to the terraces, bridges, and landings. The board of Architects Burnham and Root highly endorsed Olmsted and credited Olmsted for the success and overall execution of the World Fair. Olmsted, several years before the World Fair, developed a plan for the South Park system, which never fully developed and bothered Olmsted because of its lack of fruition. Given Chicago’s flat topography and the absence of forest cover, Olmsted recommended two locations, North Shore and
Additionally, with the formality of the “White City”, he wanted to balance the elegance with the naturalistic space of the water front. “The great challenge for Olmsted and Codman confronted in designing the grounds of the exposition was to reconcile the space for enormous exhibition buildings with the landscape” (Schuyler 8). Burnham and his group of engineers had to dredge mud from the low lying areas to create the waterways and pile it on top of the sand ridges to create sites for exposition buildings. Restoring of the land along with planting the Wooden Island and the shore of the Lagoon proved to be a challenge for Burnham and his men, especially given the change in the water level and the harsh Chicago winters. Olmsted came up with the idea to plant a great variety of trees, shrubs, and other plants with sufficient height, color and texture on what was an irregular shoreline. Olmsted and Codman were informed in the early stages of planning with the Board of Architects that the Columbian Exposition would showcase Beaux Arts Classicism. This form of neo-classical design would help represent unity and prestige in the “White
From his analysis of the expositions in England and France he also viewed The World Fair held in Chicago as having an advantage in excelling a better picturesque effect. To enhance the scenery of the lagoon and Wooden Island, the architects imported approximately 50 electric launches with brightly colored awnings and twenty gondolas from Venice. These imports were not used as transportation but rather a form of leisure and pleasure of appearance. Ultimately, Olmsted thought that the colors and textures from the natural landscape would achieve a composition that would provide relief from the monumentality of the exposition. “They collaborated closely with a talented group of architects to shape an exposition that, its promoters claimed, attracted some 27.5 million visitors” (Schuyler 18). Olmsted would return to Chicago to undertake in the resignation of Jackson Park and the Midway. The directors paid the commission of $200,000 most of which was used to pay for the removal of the buildings. The only withstanding structures that remained were the Ho-o-den temple and the Atwood-designed palace of the fine