Panel held at the Biennial Conference of the European Association of American Studies (EAAS) in Graz, Austria, April 15, 2000. Co-sponsored by the GHI. Chairs: Robert Lewis (University of Birmingham) and Bernard Mergen (George Washington University). Participants: Teresa Botelho (University of Lisbon), Pere Gallardo-Torrano (University of Lleida), Marcus Hall (Swiss Federal Institute of Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research), Susanne Hauser (Humboldt University of Berlin), Abby Arthur Johnson (Georgetown University), Ronald Johnson (Georgetown University), Christof Mauch (GHI), Eric J. Sandeen (Odense University, Denmark; University of Wyoming).
Interest in planned and designed landscapes is relatively new. In Europe it was sparked by Renaissance discoveries of architectural landscape drawings from antiquity, in the United States by nineteenth-century nationalism and romanticism. In general, the inspiration to save, cultivate, and design nature grew out of Transcendentalist art and literature, and merged with the interest of city planners to create safe and "wholesome" spaces. The first American landscape parks provided rural scenery, formal promenades, and a relaxing naturalistic environment. But as the century progressed the public no longer found such parks sufficient for recreation. People demanded entertainment, organized activity, and, above all else, variety. The playground movement was a result of intense urban growth and crowded, unsanitary housing. Amusement parks were designed as highly specialized recreational landscapes that provided novel and technologically innovative experiences for the entire family. Social and recreational needs were often at the core of American landscape design.
Another force that brought changes to urban and rural landscapes was environmentalism. The environmental ideal shaped American ideas about the (suburban) garden as an oasis of untouched nature, it helped create national parks throughout the United States, and it led, most recently, to the transformation of former industrial sites into landscaped parks and museums.
A full-day panel at this year's EAAS conference on "Nature's Nation Reconsidered: American Concepts of Nature from Wonder to Ecological Crisis" devoted itself to the study of urban and nature parks in the United States. The papers and discussions offered insights into a rapidly expanding field of historical research and called for the reconceptualization of traditional ideas about our natural and cultural environment. In his paper on the Great Teton National Park, Eric J. Sandeen, for example, called attention to the historic, human landscape that was superimposed on the natural one. Every year over 3.5 million visitors come to admire the Teton peaks from the Snake River plateau, unaware that John D. Rockefeller assembled the land precisely so that this view would be given to the American people - a virtual, commodified wilderness promenade. In Sandeen's opinion, the Great Teton National Park is a thoroughly cultural landscape, inscribed with the values and tensions of contemporary American culture.
In their presentation on the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., Abby Arthur Johnson and Ronald Johnson interpreted "America's first national cemetery" as a "garden." They showed that this cemetery, which functioned as the burying ground for presidents, senators, congressmen, and other leading citizens of the nation, not only played an important role in shaping national burial customs and forms of memorializing but also emerged as part of a larger effort to incorporate garden concepts into the design and setting of American parks and cemeteries. In his paper on the National Mall in Washington, Christof Mauch discussed the different functions of this "public garden" over the centuries. He found that the planners of the American capital city intended to design a public space that was devoid of all facilities aimed at turning the Mall into a national playground or recreation center. Interestingly, however, and despite these intentions, the Mall became both a theme park - with its carousel, fairs, and many museums - and a popular place for athletic recreation and competitions. In a presentation entitled "Our Own Bit of Green," Teresa Betelho examined private yards and spaces. In particular, she traced the history of gardens in American suburbs, from the "private fantasy and caprice" where one could "withdraw like a monk and live like a prince"(Lewis Mumford), to the uninspiring manicured front lawns of the 1950s housing development. She argued that the new home-owning middle class invested all its creativity in the interior decoration of their mass-produced homes while passively accepting strict regulation of their front yards, imposed by developers.
Whereas nature parks, cemeteries, city parks, and suburban yards were created to avoid any suggestion of work or productivity, more and more parks in the United States are the result of a transformation of (industrial) workplaces into new types of parks and historic sites. Susanne Hauser explored the ways in which designers have attempted to bury the industrial past of former brownfields and wastelands, and created "aesthetic post-industrial landscapes" in their stead. Pere Gallardo-Torrano discussed another genre of park that combines elements of nature and technology: the theme park. She argued that sites such as Disneyland are reminiscent of cinematic universes that have produced utopian micro worlds of technological sophistication, environmental awareness, and consumer euphoria. Finally, in a paper on "American Histories and Restored Pasts," Marcus Hall reminded the audience that there are distinct differences between the American and European perceptions of nature. He claimed that in the American mind, ideal wilderness has no human history; whereas in the European mind, ideal cultural landscapes have very long human histories. While restoring nature, Europeans appear to be creating historic landscapes, whereas Americans are re-creating ahistoric landscapes - with widely differing consequences for the land.
The broad range of issues addressed in this panel, attracted a diverse audience from different countries and disciplines. The lively discussion showed that a focus on cultivated nature - parks and gardens - may serve as a prism to look at broader questions such as human interaction with the environment, human values concerning urban and natural landscapes, the effect of technology, and the social and economic role of design.
Christof Mauch