landscape architecture

Designing artificial landscapes, composed of both natural and artificial elements. Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903), who was responsible for the layout of Central Park, New York, 1857, is considered one of its earliest exponents. Today, the work of landscape architects frequently involves the creation of national parks, the reclamation of industrial sites, and, in the UK, the creation of ‘new towns’.

Although the term was first used to describe the work of Olmsted in the 1850s, landscape architecture was not formally recognized as a discipline until 1899, when the American Society of Landscape Architects was founded. In the UK, Scottish town planner Patrick Geddes described the work of his office as landscape architecture 1907, and a professional body was set up 1929, with Thomas Mawson (1861–1933) as its president. After World War II, landscape architecture played a significant role in the reconstruction of many European cities and towns.