This is not a grand, expansive greenspace that we think about when hearing this name, but rather a small “New England Green”. The fact that one of the nation’s premier architects was engaged to design this beautiful memorial speaks to the city’s prestige and affluence in the early twentieth century. Central ParkĪcross the street from City Hall is Central Park, with the city’s Civil War Memorial, designed by New York City architect Ernest Flagg in 1900. And sometimes you do actually need to rest. Even if you never sit (and most won't), they signify that this is a pedestrian environment where the needs of people are as important as those of cars. Like many elements of good landscape architecture and urban design, the benches are a gesture. Trees and benches are incorporated into a small plaza that invites one to linger. In front of New Britain’s City Hall, planners extended the curb line to encompass the former parking spaces, in what urban designers refer to as a bump-out. We specified these trees in 2000 and it’s gratifying to see them grow. Here there are Sycamores that are amazingly adaptable to the urban street conditions - limited soil, pollution, drought, and heat. This building does not try and compete with its neighbors but instead is nondescript, deferring to its elders as it should.Ĭontinuing south on West Main Street, trees shade the street. In 1974, the city had the good sense to connect the two, with a middle building designed by Kastle Boos Architects. The biggest was built in 1901 as the New Britain Art Institute. The Hawley Memorial Children’s Library followed in 1931. Next comes the New Britain Public Library complex. Between the church and the parish house is an enchanting courtyard hidden from the street. Mark's Church with its huge rose window by the renowned Morris Studios of England. Mark's Church CourtyardĬrossing the street, I start south, passing St. The many people who use this park throughout the year are a testament to its success. It inevitably disturbs me as I pass, a lost opportunity.Īlthough this park is not considered one of Olmsted’s best (if it is considered at all), it does have a simple charm, with many of the features of an Olmsted Park, the winding road, open meadows, and “clumps” of trees. Olmsted inherited this driveway when he was given the master plan assignment and lobbied to reduce the steepness so that it looked more natural. At the eastern edge is a very steep bank, very obviously cut into the hillside. Steep BankĪ few feet further is the driveway into the park. I think about the stone cutters who achieved this. The vertical and horizontal curve forces the wall cap to have a complex spiral curve. These limestone steps make a 90-degree radius turn as they climb the hillside. At this park entrance sits another astonishing staircase, this one designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigal in 1932. Walnut Hill Park Limestone StepsĪnother 100 yards and I am at Walnut Hill Park, designed in 1860 by none other than Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. ![]() ![]() I cannot see that tree, in any season, without this image coming into my mind. Around the corner is a huge magnolia tree, whose huge spring blossoms I can see from my office window. We have been in our present office for over 14 years, and this absurd ornament continues to delight me. At the corner of the wall, atop a pillar, sits an enormous granite sphere. This wonderful structure was designed and built by New Britain architect William Cadwell in 1859 as his home and office. Heading north towards Walnut Hill Park, I pass the stone wall embellishing the Cadwell house. It’s evident that this stairway was carefully designed and not just a utilitarian feature. This beautiful composition allows a person to actually experience the act of entering and leaving the building. Cut on a radius, the elegant steps have a bronze handrail. Leaving through the front door of New Britain’s Neoclassical Old Post Office (which happens to house the To Design office), I immediately encounter a short staircase that delivers me to the sidewalk. Throughout his walk, he noticed elements within the urban landscape that are unique to the eye of a licensed landscape architect. Principal Phil Barlow recently took a walk up and down West Main Street in New Britain right outside the To Design office.
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