Adriane
Fowler
WETLAND REVISITED
Scenery of a winding, brackish creek, within wooded banks; gaining
interest from the meandering course of the water; numerous point and
coves softened in their outlines by thickets and with much delicate
variety in tone and color through varied, and, in landscape art, novel,
forms of perennial and herbaceous growths, the picturesque elements
emphasized by a few necessary structures, strong but unobtrusive.
- Frederick Law Olmsted, on his intent for the qualities of the Back
Bay Fens landscape. (Sutton, 224)
Olmsted designed the [Fens] so that it would appear to be a natural
salt marsh around which a city had happened to grow. The effect of
such a marsh in the city, he explained, "would be novel, certainly,
in labored urban grounds, and there may be a momentary question of
its dignity and appropriateness, but [it] is a direct development
of the original conditions of the locality in adaptation to the needs
of a dense community. So regarded, it will be found to be, in the
artistic sense of the word, natural, and possibly to suggest a modest
poetic sentiment more grateful to town-weary minds than an elaborate
and elegant garden-like work would have yielded." (Zaitzevsky 57)
The purpose of this project is to reconnect the Fens to the city at
key points through the revival of some of its historic roles: a) cleansing
of city stormwater. b) evoking the site's pre-development marshland
state. This sets up a structure for the passive and active use of
the park by residents and visitors. The intervention respects current
uses and integrates existing significant spaces, such as the rose
garden and stadium, while reviving Olmsted's intent for the park's
functions.
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