John O. Simonds
Encyclopedia
John Ormsbee Simonds was born in Jamestown, North Dakota
on March 11, 1913. He was a visionary landscape architect
, planner, educator, and environmentalist
. Simonds was an original modernist landscape architect and one of the most influential and well-known of his time.
. He went on to receive a Master’s from Harvard Graduate School of Design
. After finishing school, Simonds and his brother Phil established their company, Simonds and Simonds, later known as Environmental Planning and Development Partnership. While continuing his company he published his first book, Landscape Architecture: The Spacing of Man’s Natural Environment. In 1973 Simonds received his first and most honorable award, the ASLA
medal. Shortly after being awarded, Simonds released another publication titled, Earthscape: A Manual of Environmental Planning. In 1983 and 1998 he released the second and then third edition of his publication Landscape Architecture. Before his death in May 2005, Simonds received his last award, the ASLA President’s Centennial Medal in 1998.
Simonds' design was also greatly influenced by his travels to Asia
. He began to use aspects of the Zen
philosophy
and their idea of the garden being harmonious. Simonds wanted the garden to become a way for humans to create a relationship with plants. With his travels to Asia and studies under modern architects Walter Gropius
and Marcel Breuer
at Harvard, Simonds' designs became the best they could be and remain a part of today’s society, influencing rising architects.
Mellon Square
, in Pittsburgh
, was built in 1951 and is one of Simonds major designs. The garden was one of the first and few placed on top a parking garage. "Mellon Square was intended by Simonds to be an oasis, a civic movement, and a gathering space in the midst of downtown office towers." The social movement of World War II
and the Pittsburgh Renaissance
both greatly influenced Simonds' work. During this time Pittsburgh was in the need of deep restoration. The Simonds and Simonds Company became very popular, taking in many new commissions, the Mellon Square being one of the first and most important reconstructions of civic space.
In 1960 the company, now the Environmental Planning and Design Partnership, expanded their work away from Pittsburgh. The Chicago Botanic Garden
became well known for its impact on landscape architecture. The botanic garden was built from an unpleasant source of land in Glencoe, Illinois
. "The site covers over 300 acres, featuring a series of island gardens with an administration and visitor education center on the largest island." Simonds created a garden that incorporated an area for education of plants and actual touchable exhibits. Like the Mellon Square, the focus of creating relationships between human and plant can be seen within this design.
In the 1970s, Florida
was in the process of creating new communities. During this time, Simonds changed his focus to large scale developments, allowing Florida’s new communities to be options of work. Pelican Bay
, located in Naples, Florida
, became one of Simonds' great large-scale projects. He also established and developed the term PUD, Planned Unit Development
, within the bay community. The greatness of this design was the combination of nature and community with nothing overpowering the scene. The design involved the use of nature features, which enabled the area to preserve the ecology
of the region. Pelican Bay became widely appreciated and recognized after receiving the New Community Development Award for Excellence by the Urban Land Institute
.
Simonds took part in 500 projects and was a planner of 80 communities and 4 new towns. Some of his famous works include:
ers, and regional planners
. The style in which he created was no longer just a design, but rather it became a place for people to experience. John Ormsbee Simonds will always have a great impact on Landscape Architecture and will continue to influence many landscape designs.
Jamestown, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 15,527 people, 6,505 households, and 3,798 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.7 per square mile . There were 6,970 housing units at an average density of 559.6 per square mile...
on March 11, 1913. He was a visionary landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
, planner, educator, and environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
. Simonds was an original modernist landscape architect and one of the most influential and well-known of his time.
Career
In 1935 he graduated with a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
. He went on to receive a Master’s from Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
. After finishing school, Simonds and his brother Phil established their company, Simonds and Simonds, later known as Environmental Planning and Development Partnership. While continuing his company he published his first book, Landscape Architecture: The Spacing of Man’s Natural Environment. In 1973 Simonds received his first and most honorable award, the ASLA
American Society of Landscape Architects
The American Society of Landscape Architects is the national professional association representing landscape architects, with more than 17,000 members in 48 chapters, representing all 50 states, U.S. territories, and 42 countries around the world, plus 68 student chapters...
medal. Shortly after being awarded, Simonds released another publication titled, Earthscape: A Manual of Environmental Planning. In 1983 and 1998 he released the second and then third edition of his publication Landscape Architecture. Before his death in May 2005, Simonds received his last award, the ASLA President’s Centennial Medal in 1998.
Influences
The first most important influence was Simonds' father, Guy Wallace, a Presbyterian minister. Simonds' father helped him to develop a love and appreciation for nature, and the ability to speak to others with great enthusiasm. As his designs developed, the use of incorporating nature with quality and balance became his foremost goal and attribute to design.Simonds' design was also greatly influenced by his travels to Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. He began to use aspects of the Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and their idea of the garden being harmonious. Simonds wanted the garden to become a way for humans to create a relationship with plants. With his travels to Asia and studies under modern architects Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
and Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
at Harvard, Simonds' designs became the best they could be and remain a part of today’s society, influencing rising architects.
Accomplishments
The basis of Simonds' firm was centered on parks, recreational facilities, playgrounds, urban area and space, and many large gardens.Mellon Square
Mellon Square
Mellon Square is an urban park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the first Modernist park built above a parking garage. With its distinctive black-and-white geometric pavement, it is a prominent feature and gathering spot of Downtown Pittsburgh....
, in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, was built in 1951 and is one of Simonds major designs. The garden was one of the first and few placed on top a parking garage. "Mellon Square was intended by Simonds to be an oasis, a civic movement, and a gathering space in the midst of downtown office towers." The social movement of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the Pittsburgh Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
both greatly influenced Simonds' work. During this time Pittsburgh was in the need of deep restoration. The Simonds and Simonds Company became very popular, taking in many new commissions, the Mellon Square being one of the first and most important reconstructions of civic space.
In 1960 the company, now the Environmental Planning and Design Partnership, expanded their work away from Pittsburgh. The Chicago Botanic Garden
Chicago Botanic Garden
Located at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, USA, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands featuring 24 display gardens and surrounded by four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shores. The Garden is open...
became well known for its impact on landscape architecture. The botanic garden was built from an unpleasant source of land in Glencoe, Illinois
Glencoe, Illinois
Glencoe is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the village population was 8,723. Glencoe is located on suburban Chicago's North Shore. Glencoe is located within the New Trier High School District. Glencoe is regarded as one of the most affluent suburbs on...
. "The site covers over 300 acres, featuring a series of island gardens with an administration and visitor education center on the largest island." Simonds created a garden that incorporated an area for education of plants and actual touchable exhibits. Like the Mellon Square, the focus of creating relationships between human and plant can be seen within this design.
In the 1970s, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
was in the process of creating new communities. During this time, Simonds changed his focus to large scale developments, allowing Florida’s new communities to be options of work. Pelican Bay
Pelican Bay, Florida
Pelican Bay is a census-designated place in Collier County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, located in Naples, Florida
Naples, Florida
Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of July 1, 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 21,653. Naples is a principal city of the Naples–Marco Island Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated total population of 315,839 on July 1, 2007...
, became one of Simonds' great large-scale projects. He also established and developed the term PUD, Planned Unit Development
Planned Unit Development
A planned unit development , is both a type of building development as well as a regulatory process. A PUD is a designed grouping of varied and compatible land uses, such as housing, recreation, commercial centers, and industrial parks, all within one contained development or...
, within the bay community. The greatness of this design was the combination of nature and community with nothing overpowering the scene. The design involved the use of nature features, which enabled the area to preserve the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of the region. Pelican Bay became widely appreciated and recognized after receiving the New Community Development Award for Excellence by the Urban Land Institute
Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a non-profit research and education organization with offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London...
.
Simonds took part in 500 projects and was a planner of 80 communities and 4 new towns. Some of his famous works include:
- Pittsburgh Aviary - Conservatory http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/manuscript/guides/Simonds.htm
- Interstate 66Interstate 66Interstate 66 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. As indicated by its even route number, it runs in an east–west direction. Its western terminus is at Middletown, Virginia, at an intersection with Interstate 81; its eastern terminus is in Washington, D.C., at an...
in Virginia - Allegheny Commons http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_city/20011124commonscity1p1.asp
Significance to landscape architecture
Simonds moved the focus in landscape architecture from plants to the idea of plants and human relationship. He created a movement of change from landscape specialists to landscape environmentalists, urban designUrban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
ers, and regional planners
Regional planning
Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. The related field of urban planning deals with the specific issues of city planning...
. The style in which he created was no longer just a design, but rather it became a place for people to experience. John Ormsbee Simonds will always have a great impact on Landscape Architecture and will continue to influence many landscape designs.
"One designs not places, or spaces, or things, one designs experiences." - John Ormsbee Simonds
See also
- Landscape ArchitectureLandscape architectureLandscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
- Urban PlanningUrban planningUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
- Landscape design history
External links
- Chicago Botanic Garden
- John Ormsbee Simonds Remembered. Includes photographs of major designs.
- Obituary: Prominent and Influential Landscape Architect
- A Guide to the John Ormsbee Simonds Collection
- Remembering John Simonds: Pioneer of American Landscape Design
- American Society of Landscape Architects