How Central Park Was Created Entirely By Design and Not By Nature | Architectural Digest

Summary

In this captivating tour of Central Park, architect Michael Wyetzner reveals the park's meticulously designed landscape and hidden details that make it the most famous urban park in the world. From its creation in the 1850s, designed by Olmsted and Vaux, to unique features like The Dairy, The Mall, and Bethesda Terrace, every aspect of the park was intentionally crafted to offer a naturalistic escape within a bustling city. With insights on the park's history, design elements, and iconic structures, this exploration highlights how Central Park blends nature, art, and urban life.

Takeaways

• 🌳 Central Park spans 843 acres and every tree, shrub, and flower was intentionally designed rather than occurring naturally.
• 🏛️ The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, winning a design competition in the 1850s after over 30 submissions.
• 🥛 The Dairy, located in the Children’s District, provided fresh milk to children and incorporates a hidden two-story design beneath a transverse road.
• 🚗 Submerged transverse roads allow traffic to cross the park without disturbing visitors’ naturalistic experience, a unique innovation at the time.
• 🪨 Survey vaults, including the last remaining one, mark the original Manhattan street grid integrated into the park’s design.
• 💦 Bethesda Terrace and Fountain feature Emma Stebbins’ sculpture 'Angel of the Waters,' commemorating the Croton Aqueduct and the importance of clean water.
• 🌉 The park has over 36 bridges and arches designed to be both aesthetically pleasing and functionally integrated with layered circulation paths for roads, carriages, horses, and pedestrians.
• 🏞️ Over 5 million cubic yards of soil were moved, 500,000+ trees and shrubs planted, and multiple lakes and waterfalls created to produce a naturalistic landscape inspired by the Hudson River School paintings.
• 🏰 Belvedere Castle, built on Vista Rock, serves as a scenic lookout and weather station and is constructed at three-quarter scale for a fairytale effect.
• 📏 The park includes practical design elements for visitors, such as coded lampposts indicating location, and its circulation paths were originally intended to serve all social classes.
• ⚖️ Seneca Village, one of New York’s earliest free Black settlements, was displaced to build the park, highlighting the social impact of its construction.
• 🎭 The Great Lawn, formerly a reservoir, is now a community space for concerts, sports, and events, showing the park’s evolving use over time.
• 🖼️ While early sculptures in the park were male figures, statues of women pioneers were added in 2020, reflecting changing cultural values.

Q & A

Who proposed the concept of a large-scale park in Manhattan, and when?

The concept was proposed in the 1840s by poet William Cullen Bryant and landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing.

Who designed Central Park, and how was the design selected?

Central Park was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux, who won a design competition held by New York City in the 1850s with over 30 submissions.

What was unique about the design of the transverse roads in Central Park?

Unlike other submissions, Vaux and Olmsted designed the transverse roads to be submerged below the park’s surface, allowing traffic to pass without disturbing the naturalistic experience of park visitors.

What was the purpose of The Dairy in Central Park?

The Dairy, located in the Children's District, provided children access to fresh milk, which was not widely available in the late 1800s.

How does Central Park mark locations for visitors using lampposts?

There are over 1,800 lampposts with codes: the first two digits indicate the nearest cross street (59th–110th Street), and the last two digits indicate the side of the park (even = east, odd = west).

What is the significance of Bethesda Terrace and its fountain?

Bethesda Terrace, with the 'Angel of the Waters' fountain by Emma Stebbins, commemorates the Croton Aqueduct's completion and fulfills the original design requirement for a grand fountain in the park.

How does Central Park manage multiple types of traffic without disrupting the landscape?

The park uses four vertical layers of circulation: submerged transverse roads, drives for horses/carriages, bridal paths for horseback riding, and pedestrian footpaths, allowing each type to cross without interference.

What is the purpose and unique feature of Belvedere Castle?

Belvedere Castle, built on Vista Rock, provides panoramic views of the park and city, serves as a weather station, and is constructed at three-quarter scale to enhance its fairytale appearance.

How were natural elements integrated into Central Park’s manmade landscape?

Olmsted and Vaux used naturalistic designs with meadows, woodlands, streams, and lakes, moving over 5 million cubic yards of soil, planting 500,000 trees and shrubs, and carefully incorporating boulders and other natural features.

What historical settlement was displaced to create Central Park, and why is it significant?

Seneca Village, one of the earliest free Black settlements in New York, was displaced via eminent domain, highlighting the social impact of urban development in the park’s creation.

What inspired the naturalistic vistas in Central Park?

The naturalistic vistas were partly inspired by large-scale Hudson River School paintings that depicted awe-inspiring natural landscapes.

Why are the park’s bridges and arches considered both functional and aesthetic?

The 36+ bridges and arches serve as bridges, tunnels, and visual markers for navigation, while maintaining unique, ornate designs that complement the park’s naturalistic setting.