Charles Eliot (landscape architect)

Charles Eliot ( born November 1, 1859 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, † March 25, 1897 in Brookline ) was a leading American landscape architect, who died of a fatal meningitis at the age of 38 years. Eliot was one of the pioneers of the fundamental principles of spatial planning and laid the conceptual and policy foundations for the designation of protected areas of different kinds all over the world. He also played a major role in drafting the Boston Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston, designed a number of public and private landscapes and extensive published writings on a variety of topics.

Early life

The father of Charles Eliot, Charles William Eliot, and president of Harvard University, who in 1901 wrote a biography about this after his son's death. The cousin of his father, Charles Eliot Norton, was also in Harvard professor of art history and a very well known writer. Charles Eliot graduated from Harvard in 1882 and subsequently took special horticulture courses at the Bussey Institute of the University, to prepare for his career as a landscape architect. He's part of the family originating from Boston Eliot, whose members are dedicated to this day, the earth, wherever possible, to protect them from exploitation.

Career

In 1883 Eliot was an assistant to Frederick Law Olmsted, in whose company he on designs for the objects Cushing Iceland (1883 ), Back Bay Fens (1883 ), Franklin Park (1884), Belle Isle Park (1884 ) and Arnold Arboretum ( 1885) worked. 1885 travel at the direction of Eliot Olmsted to Europe to study natural landscapes and to see the designs of Capability Brown, Humphry Repton, Joseph Paxton and Hermann von Pueckler. His travel diaries make today one of the best sources for the appearance of European landscapes of the late 19th century dar.

Upon his return to Boston in 1886 Eliot opened his own office. His orders included the White Park in Concord (1888), the present Mill Creek Park in Youngstown (1891 ) and the city planning for Salt Lake City ( 1890). After the death of Henry Sargent Codman asked to Olmsted's son Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and his stepbrother John Charles Olmsted in Eliot whether he wanted to be a full partner in their companies. This agreed to in March 1893 so that the company was renamed Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot. Within months, Eliot took on more and more the conduct of business, as the health of the elderly Olmsted brothers continuously decreased.

Life's work

The works of Eliot are still visible today in the Boston area. He published concepts for the esplanades along the Charles River, as had been previously announced by Charles Davenport and others. As a consulting landscape architect for the Metropolitan Park Commission, he oversaw the acquisition of a large part of the riparian zones in Boston, Watertown and Newton. Eliot was responsible for the landscape work on the Esplanade in Cambridge, as he realized the promenade in Boston by implementing the design by Guy Lowell (1910) and Arthur Shurcliff (1936). In 1883 he designed the Longfellow Park between the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Cambridge to the Charles River. Until his death he was the partner responsible for the work of his company at Fresh Pond in Cambridge.

In addition to his regular work Eliot wrote regular journal article for the magazine Garden and Forest. On March 5, 1890, he published a seminal article there titled " Waverly Oaks ", in which he voiced support for protecting a component of oaks in Belmont. In this context, he described a general strategy for the preservation of landscapes according to the same pattern as apply the Boston Public Library for books and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for art. This article led to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a conference on the safety of landscapes conducted in 1890, the results again in 1891 for the legislature in Massachusetts formed the basis for the establishment of the Trustees of Reservations. This was the first organization that promotes the preservation and management of " beautiful and historic places " was worldwide. These principles adopted in the United Kingdom, the National Trust and developed them further.

After the death of Eliot, the company in which he had been a partner to the end, as Olmsted Brothers was re-established. This company was for another 50 years one of the most famous companies of Landscape Architecture in the United States and designed in the 20th century thousands of parks, gardens and landscapes.

It is generally assumed that the works of Eliot served as inspiration for the creation of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Iceland in the state of Maine.