Project Statement
Cultural Landscapes as Classrooms (CLC)
teaches people to “read” landscapes that
are part of their surroundings, how to manage their
evolution, and to become better stewards of our landscape
architectural heritage. CLC is a multi-disciplinary,
web-based learning experience produced primarily for
middle school students, but will be of interest to all
ages. Users are able to “visit” a landscape
structured as an analytic viewing experience that draws
upon historical and cultural information with reference
to other art forms.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation launched
its Cultural Landscapes as Classrooms (CLC) series in
2002. The CLC approach is aimed at embedding an ethos
of proactive stewardship of natural and cultural resources
in the minds of young people, who will be the stewards
and decision-makers of the future. The CLC series, available
on-line for free and also in a CD-ROM version, is aimed
at middle school students, an age when cognitive skills
are developed and the optimum age to introduce career
choices in landscape architecture to an audience of
students and teachers hungry for resources. Though fun
and educational for all age groups, these modules offer
spectacular, interactive, virtual tours of historic
American landscapes. Using streaming video, Quicktime
VTRs, flash games and other multi media, the CLC modules offer users a compelling experience
of place to encourage broad understanding of a landscape’s
evolution and ongoing care and management. Time spent
at the website is highly experiential (using a map or
a visitors guide) and allows free exploration and active
choices, in addition to reading and arts-based observation.
At
each node, information and activities of varying complexity
challenge and entertain users of all skill levels.
It has long been accepted that hands-on
learning is a valuable form of teaching and the CLC
series draws on a long tradition in the arts which values
the unique ways in which the arts help people learn
to see and understand. For many people in America, an
opportunity to visit a distant city, (let alone gain
access to a private garden), is often unlikely. Therefore,
the CLC modules are as interactive as possible to give
a “real-life” experience of the landscapes.
This effectively engages people interested in landscapes
in a way that is technologically advanced and educationally
sound. Thus, the CLC series creates a dynamic dialog
between educators and their classrooms, along with such
professional disciplines as landscape architecture,
planning, architecture, and historic preservation, among
others.
To date, the CLC series has received over
$400,000 in public and private support, including two
grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (Design
Arts), in addition to grants from the Driehaus Foundation,
Donnelly Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Graham Foundation,
Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Heritage Foundation
of Columbus, and many others.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation has
developed three CLC modules, each one representing some
of the most significant works of landscape architecture
in America spanning the years from the 1890s to the
1950s. Each module is available as an individual website
feature and on CD-ROM. The website attracted over 3.2
million hits in 2006, and in December attracted a record 29,000 visitors. Of this
number, over one-third of the hits were for CLC web
offerings.
1. Columbus Park: The Prairie
Idealized
Columbus Park, located seven miles from
Chicago’s bustling downtown, is a National Historic
Landmark landscape composed of native wildflowers, waterfalls,
stepping stone paths, and a prairie river. At Columbus
Park, Jens Jensen employed his unique design approach
known as Prairie Style. Although visitors often think
this is a scenic, natural site,
The Prairie Idealized reveals how it is the designed
masterwork of landscape architecture created in the
1910s. The CLC module was unveiled in 2002 in concert
with Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Greening Symposium
and was co-sponsored by the City of Chicago’s
Parks, Libraries and Cultural Affairs divisions. The
module was also featured in three interactive
kiosks at the 2002 exhibition held at the Chicago Cultural
Center dedicated to the life and built works of Jens
Jensen.
2. City Shaping: The Olmsteds
in Louisville
Best known for his work on Central Park,
the U.S. Capitol Grounds, and the Biltmore estate, Frederick
Law Olmsted was the acknowledged master in his field
when he was commissioned to design a park system for
Louisville, Kentucky. In Louisville, Olmsted, Sr., and
his sons created an interconnecting system of parks,
parkways, and boulevards. From 1891- 1928, as Olmsted’s
designs were realized, his firm literally shaped the
city for future generations. The work also includes
adjacent residential subdivisions, estates, and institutional
grounds. City Shaping explores the ultimate and last
park system of Olmsted’s career. The project was
produced in concert with the Louisville Olmsted Parks
Conservancy and Metro Parks.
3. Icons of Modernism
The most recent CLC module celebrates
Dan Kiley and his masterwork design for the Miller Garden
in Columbus, Indiana, together with Thomas Church and
Lawrence Halprin’s revolutionary biomorphic design
for the Donnell Garden in Sonoma, California. Here,
for the first time, visitors gain “virtual”
access to two of the most important private Modern
gardens in America – they also get to meet their
owners and designers including Dan Kiley, Lawrence Halprin,
and architect Kevin Roche. The module was produced in
concert with the Visitors Center of Columbus and kidsCommons.
About TCLF
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (www.tclf.org)
was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1998 by a group
of landscape architects, educators, and community leaders
concerned about the declining public interest in America’s
cultural landscapes. TCLF is the only not-for-profit
organization in America dedicated to increasing the
public’s awareness of the importance and irreplaceable legacy of cultural landscapes.
Over the past nine years, with no full-time staff, TCLF
has raised nearly $2 million for its educational initiatives.
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