August 2011

Imagine New York City’s Central Park carved into an eclectic mix of ponds and glades or consumed by a labyrinth of French topiary, and you will see the Park as several landscape designers envisioned it in 1857. The Central Park design competition was the suggestion of English designer, Calvert Vaux, who disliked the original, un-artistic plan by engineer, Egbert Ludovicus Viele. The competition was also an ingenious way of ensuring that the 843-acre chunk of Manhatttan real estate—nearly twice the size of the Principality of Monaco—would meet as many New Yorkers’ expectations as possible. The Central Park Commission received 33 design submissions, ranging in quality from stolidly practical to fantastical. The 11-man, state-appointed commission selected park superintendant, Frederick Law Olmsted’s, and English designer, Calvert Vaux’s, “Greensward” plan on April 28, 1858.