The Original Vision for Prospect Park – What Did Olmsted Say?

Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) is considered one of America’s pioneer landscape architects. In the 1800’s, as more people moved to cities due to industrialization, many recognized the need for city dwellers to still have access to nature… the need for parks (open spaces). Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were tapped to design first Central Park and eventually Prospect Park, which many consider his most successful design. Olmsted’s thoughts regarding Prospect Park and park design in general include…

• Prospect Park’s “one great purpose” is to provide “relief for thousands of tired workers…from vital exhaustion, nervous irritation, to loss of faith and lowness of spirit.”
• “Prospect Park would become a favorite resort for all classes of our community, enabling thousands to enjoy pure air, with healthful exercise, at all seasons of the year “.
• “Buildings, monuments, etc. …are not what make a park.”
• Park features views “free of any object which will suggest the vicinity of the city” with a “primary purpose of the park to give the means of a ready escape.”