The American landscape

the long version

In this sweeping overview of landscape design, painting, and planning, Christian Zapatka examines the history of the physical environment of the United States from the 1830s to the present. Weaving together architectural, art, economic, landscape, political, and social history, Zapatka looks at the American landscape in an engaging and original manner. Broad in scope, this book addresses a wide range of subjects, including: the paintings of the Hudson River School that helped shape America's image as a sublime wilderness; landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted's city parks, planned to provide both literal and metaphorical oases in dense urban zones; the creation of national parks such as Yellowstone and Yosemite; the construction of the Lincoln Highway, stretching from New York to San Francisco; Franklin D. Roosevelt's program for the city of Greenbelt, Maryland and other New Deal suburbs; Robert Moses's Jones Beach State Park and Parkway, intended to bring nature and recreation within reach of an urban population; and the relationship of contemporary artists and architects to today's landscape.