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History of Early American Landscape Design

Difference between revisions of "Square"

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(Created page with "==History== ==Texts== ===Usage=== ===Citations=== ==Images== <gallery> </gallery> ==Notes== <references> </references>")
 
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==History==
 
==History==
 +
In landscape design vocabulary, the term
 +
square had three distinct usages derived
 +
from its definition as a geometric shape with
 +
four right angles and four equal sides. First,
 +
“square” referred to square- or rectangular-
 +
shaped beds and cultivated areas and was
 +
often used to describe the divisions within
 +
nurseries, kitchen gardens, and flower gardens.
 +
This usage was apparent in 1799 when
 +
John Latta described the flower garden at
 +
Mount Vernon, and also in 1800 when the
 +
Federal Gazette noted Adrian Valeck’s garden
 +
in Baltimore. Used in this sense, the term generally
 +
came to be subsumed under the wider
 +
terms “bed” and “plot” during the early nineteenth
 +
century (see Bed and Plot). Second,
 +
the square represented a division of property
 +
within a city or town in a grid or orthogonal
 +
pattern, as reflected in descriptions of New
 +
Haven, Conn., by Rev. Manasseh Cutler (1787)
 +
and Jedidiah Morse (1789), and a report on
 +
Washington, D.C., by Pierre-Charles L’Enfant
 +
(1791). J.-P. Brissot de Warville in 1788 used
 +
both senses of the term in his description of
 +
the beds in the State House Yard and the grid
 +
plan of the entire city of Philadelphia.
 +
 +
Third, and most significantly, square was
 +
used to denote a public space. An early and
 +
important example is William Penn’s 1683
 +
plan for the city of Philadelphia, which broke
 +
from a strict grid to preserve public spaces,
 +
called squares, which would remain open for
 +
communal use. In 1734, Savannah, Ga., was
 +
laid out with reserved open squares around
 +
which building lots were arranged [Fig. 1].
 +
Imported from European urban planning
 +
traditions, the open square was a feature in
 +
the settlements throughout the New World.
 +
Although Spanish, French, Dutch, and German
 +
colonies designated the spaces as plaza,
 +
place d’arms, platz, and so forth, English-
 +
speaking visitors generally described these
 +
spaces as squares. They even extended
 +
application of the term to Native American
 +
settlements, as attested by William Bartram’s
 +
1791 description of a town in Cuscowilla,
 +
Ga. Furthermore, in the English colonies,
 +
writers often used the term “square” to refer
 +
to an area that elsewhere was described as a
 +
green, yard, or common. New Haven Green,
 +
University of Virginia, and State House Yard
 +
in Philadelphia are all examples of this
 +
broader application of the term.
 +
 +
Squares marked the termination of major
 +
streets and avenues and provided visual
 +
focal points at intersections [Fig. 2].1 Urban
 +
squares were often the setting for monuments,
 +
as in Joseph Jacques Ramée’s design
 +
for the Washington Monument in Baltimore
 +
[Fig. 3], and for public buildings, such as
 +
court houses, meeting houses, market
 +
houses, and magazines. As L’Enfant noted,
 +
the statues, columns, and obelisks that
 +
ornamented many squares not only commemorated
 +
celebrated heroes of the past,
 +
 +
but also served as instructive examples to
 +
the present generation of proper patriotic
 +
behavior. Squares often became centers of
 +
neighborhood or civic identity, as was the
 +
case with Union Square in New York and Rittenhouse
 +
Square in Philadelphia. A 1704 resolution
 +
of the House of Burgesses of Virginia
 +
in Williamsburg suggested that the scale and
 +
openness of squares were ideally suited to
 +
position institutions of authority. As a result,
 +
squares were used as sites for civic displays,
 +
such as a parade of the Salem, Mass., regiment held in 1808. Benjamin Henry Latrobe
 +
in 1800 indicated a square in his plan for a
 +
military school, a space that could be used
 +
for drilling and exercises, and that could be
 +
kept easily under surveillance [Fig. 4].
 +
 +
In addition to public squares, American
 +
towns occasionally included smaller residential
 +
versions of the same feature. Surrounded
 +
by private houses and intended for
 +
the recreation and enjoyment of immediate
 +
residents, these often-gated residential
 +
squares were included in the early plan of
 +
Bloomsbury Square in Annapolis, Md., as
 +
seen in James Stoddert’s plan of 1718 [Fig. 5].
 +
Similar residential squares, such as
 +
Gramercy Square in New York and Louis-
 +
burg Square in Boston, continued to be constructed
 +
throughout the period under study,
 +
although they never reached the popularity
 +
of their London counterparts developed
 +
after the Great Fire of 1666.2
 +
 +
Both residential and public squares provided
 +
a venue for garden or landscape design
 +
within the city. Many squares were initially
 +
grass lots, divided by walks or paths, and
 +
planted with trees in fairly simple configurations,
 +
as at New Haven Green. In the nineteenth
 +
century more elaborate designs
 +
became common. Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s
 +
1819 design for Place d’Armes (renamed Jackson
 +
Square) in New Orleans [Fig. 6], and
 +
William Rush’s 1824 plan for Franklin Public
 +
Square in Philadelphia [Fig. 7], exemplify the
 +
inclusion of intricate walks and planting beds,
 +
statuary, and ironwork fences and gates that
 +
marked these squares as ornamental—clearly
 +
intended for leisure and recreation and not as
 +
pastures for cows or drilling militia. Of particular
 +
note is the installation of fountains made
 +
possible by the introduction of pressurized
 +
water systems. These fountains set in public
 +
squares and parks became prominent symbols
 +
of civic achievement and pride (see
 +
Fountain and Jet).
 +
 +
An account of the improvements planned
 +
for Richmond’s Capitol Square in 1851 conveys
 +
the appeal of a “delightful resort” in a
 +
growing urban center, typical of mid-
 +
nineteenth-century public landscape design
 +
projects. The attraction of these urban
 +
cases, however, went beyond aesthetics.
 +
Writers such as William A. Alcott (1838) and
 +
Louisa C. Tuthill (1848) argued that the
 +
healthful and moral benefits of these public
 +
spaces should be available to all classes. The
 +
opportunity that squares afforded for recreation, light, fresh air, and a mixing of the citizenry propelled these landscapes into instruments of social reform.
 +
 +
-- ''Elizabeth Kryder-Reid''
  
 
==Texts==
 
==Texts==

Revision as of 18:58, April 1, 2015

History

In landscape design vocabulary, the term square had three distinct usages derived from its definition as a geometric shape with four right angles and four equal sides. First, “square” referred to square- or rectangular- shaped beds and cultivated areas and was often used to describe the divisions within nurseries, kitchen gardens, and flower gardens. This usage was apparent in 1799 when John Latta described the flower garden at Mount Vernon, and also in 1800 when the Federal Gazette noted Adrian Valeck’s garden in Baltimore. Used in this sense, the term generally came to be subsumed under the wider terms “bed” and “plot” during the early nineteenth century (see Bed and Plot). Second, the square represented a division of property within a city or town in a grid or orthogonal pattern, as reflected in descriptions of New Haven, Conn., by Rev. Manasseh Cutler (1787) and Jedidiah Morse (1789), and a report on Washington, D.C., by Pierre-Charles L’Enfant (1791). J.-P. Brissot de Warville in 1788 used both senses of the term in his description of the beds in the State House Yard and the grid plan of the entire city of Philadelphia.

Third, and most significantly, square was used to denote a public space. An early and important example is William Penn’s 1683 plan for the city of Philadelphia, which broke from a strict grid to preserve public spaces, called squares, which would remain open for communal use. In 1734, Savannah, Ga., was laid out with reserved open squares around which building lots were arranged [Fig. 1]. Imported from European urban planning traditions, the open square was a feature in the settlements throughout the New World. Although Spanish, French, Dutch, and German colonies designated the spaces as plaza, place d’arms, platz, and so forth, English- speaking visitors generally described these spaces as squares. They even extended application of the term to Native American settlements, as attested by William Bartram’s 1791 description of a town in Cuscowilla, Ga. Furthermore, in the English colonies, writers often used the term “square” to refer to an area that elsewhere was described as a green, yard, or common. New Haven Green, University of Virginia, and State House Yard in Philadelphia are all examples of this broader application of the term.

Squares marked the termination of major streets and avenues and provided visual focal points at intersections [Fig. 2].1 Urban squares were often the setting for monuments, as in Joseph Jacques Ramée’s design for the Washington Monument in Baltimore [Fig. 3], and for public buildings, such as court houses, meeting houses, market houses, and magazines. As L’Enfant noted, the statues, columns, and obelisks that ornamented many squares not only commemorated celebrated heroes of the past,

but also served as instructive examples to the present generation of proper patriotic behavior. Squares often became centers of neighborhood or civic identity, as was the case with Union Square in New York and Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. A 1704 resolution of the House of Burgesses of Virginia in Williamsburg suggested that the scale and openness of squares were ideally suited to position institutions of authority. As a result, squares were used as sites for civic displays, such as a parade of the Salem, Mass., regiment held in 1808. Benjamin Henry Latrobe in 1800 indicated a square in his plan for a military school, a space that could be used for drilling and exercises, and that could be kept easily under surveillance [Fig. 4].

In addition to public squares, American towns occasionally included smaller residential versions of the same feature. Surrounded by private houses and intended for the recreation and enjoyment of immediate residents, these often-gated residential squares were included in the early plan of Bloomsbury Square in Annapolis, Md., as seen in James Stoddert’s plan of 1718 [Fig. 5]. Similar residential squares, such as Gramercy Square in New York and Louis- burg Square in Boston, continued to be constructed throughout the period under study, although they never reached the popularity of their London counterparts developed after the Great Fire of 1666.2

Both residential and public squares provided a venue for garden or landscape design within the city. Many squares were initially grass lots, divided by walks or paths, and planted with trees in fairly simple configurations, as at New Haven Green. In the nineteenth century more elaborate designs became common. Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s 1819 design for Place d’Armes (renamed Jackson Square) in New Orleans [Fig. 6], and William Rush’s 1824 plan for Franklin Public Square in Philadelphia [Fig. 7], exemplify the inclusion of intricate walks and planting beds, statuary, and ironwork fences and gates that marked these squares as ornamental—clearly intended for leisure and recreation and not as pastures for cows or drilling militia. Of particular note is the installation of fountains made possible by the introduction of pressurized water systems. These fountains set in public squares and parks became prominent symbols of civic achievement and pride (see Fountain and Jet).

An account of the improvements planned for Richmond’s Capitol Square in 1851 conveys the appeal of a “delightful resort” in a growing urban center, typical of mid- nineteenth-century public landscape design projects. The attraction of these urban cases, however, went beyond aesthetics. Writers such as William A. Alcott (1838) and Louisa C. Tuthill (1848) argued that the healthful and moral benefits of these public spaces should be available to all classes. The opportunity that squares afforded for recreation, light, fresh air, and a mixing of the citizenry propelled these landscapes into instruments of social reform.

-- Elizabeth Kryder-Reid

Texts

Usage

Citations

Images

Notes

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History of Early American Landscape Design contributors, "Square," History of Early American Landscape Design, , https://heald.nga.gov/mediawiki/index.php?title=Square&oldid=8362 (accessed March 28, 2024).

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