The University of Idaho Olmsted Brothers Master Plan: Historical Process and the Creation of Place.
Stephan Drown
The University
of Idaho campus and in particular the "Admin Lawn" are highly regarded by
students, faculty, staff and alumni as unique places and fond symbols of their
tenure at the university. During their period of contract with the university,
the Olmsted Brothers, landscape architects, were also working on a number of
other projects that included the Cleveland Metroparks system, Manito Park and
Botanical Gardens in Spokane, Washington, Audubon Park in New Orleans, the
Seattle Park System and the Washington State Capitol Master Plan in Olympia.
This presentation will examine the design of the University of Idaho master plan
in light of the Olmsted Brothers contemporaneous work, their design process and
the legacy of their father Frederick Law Olmsted.
By doing so the presentation will demonstrate how well connected this university campus is to other significant landscapes around the world and to ancient and modern concepts of place, how our unique campus interplays with both ancient and modern concepts of universal place.