John Ormsbee Simonds was born in

Jamestown, North Dakota Jamestown is a city in Stutsman County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Stutsman County. The population was 15,849 at the 2020 census, making it the ninth largest city in North Dakota. Jamestown was founded in 1883 and is ...

on March 11, 1913. He was a visionary landscape architect, planner, educator, and

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. Simonds was an original modernist landscape architect and one of the most influential and well-known of his time.

Career

In 1935 he graduated with a B.S. in Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University. He went on to receive a Master's from Harvard Graduate School of Design. After finishing school, Simonds and his brother Phil established their company, Simonds and Simonds, later known as Environmental Planning and Development Partnership. While continuing his company he published his first book, ''Landscape Architecture: The Shaping of Man's Natural Environment''. The basis of Simonds' firm was centered on parks, recreational facilities, playgrounds, urban area and space, and many large gardens.

Mellon Square Mellon Square is an urban park in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the first Modernist park built above a parking garage. With its distinctive black, white and green geometric pavement, it is a prominent urban oasis and gathering spot ...

, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, was built in 1951 and is one of Simonds major designs. The garden was one of the first and few placed on top a parking garage. "Mellon Square was intended by Simonds to be an oasis, a civic movement, and a gathering space in the midst of downtown office towers." The social movement of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the Pittsburgh

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

both greatly influenced Simonds' work. During this time Pittsburgh was in the need of deep restoration. The Simonds and Simonds Company became very popular, taking in many new commissions, the Mellon Square being one of the first and most important reconstructions of civic space. In 1960 the company, now the Environmental Planning and Design Partnership, expanded their work away from Pittsburgh. The

Chicago Botanic Garden The Chicago Botanic Garden is a living plant museum situated on nine islands in the Cook County Forest Preserves. It features 27 display gardens in four natural habitats: McDonald Woods, Dixon Prairie, Skokie River Corridor, and Lakes and Shor ...

became well known for its impact on landscape architecture. The botanic garden was built from an unpleasant source of land in Glencoe, Illinois. "The site covers over 300 acres, featuring a series of island gardens with an administration and visitor education center on the largest island." Simonds created a garden that incorporated an area for education of plants and actual touchable exhibits. Like the Mellon Square, the focus of creating relationships between human and plant can be seen within this design. Simonds was awarded a Doctorate in Science from Michigan State University, in 1968. In the 1970s,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

was in the process of creating new communities. During this time, Simonds changed his focus to large scale developments, allowing Florida's new communities to be options of work. Pelican Bay, located in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the historical city (i.e. in the immediate vicinity of downtown Naples) was 19,115. Naples is a principal city of the Naples-Marco Island, Flori ...

, became one of Simonds' great large-scale projects. He also established and developed the term PUD, Planned Unit Development, within the bay community. The greatness of this design was the combination of nature and community with nothing overpowering the scene. The design involved the use of nature features, which enabled the area to preserve the

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

of the region. Pelican Bay became widely appreciated and recognized after receiving the New Community Development Award for Excellence by the

Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI advocates progressive development, conducting research, and education in topics such as ...

. In 1973 Simonds received his first and most honorable award, the ASLA medal. Shortly after being awarded, Simonds released another publication titled, ''Earthscape: A Manual of Environmental Planning''. In 1983 and 1998 he released the second and then third edition of his publication ''Landscape Architecture''. Before his death in May 2005, Simonds received his last award, the ASLA President's Centennial Medal in 1998. Simonds took part in 500 projects and was a planner of 80 communities and 4 new towns. Some of his famous works include: *Pittsburgh Aviary - Conservatory *

Interstate 66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...

in Virginia *Allegheny Commons

Influences

The first most important influence was Simonds' father, Guy Wallace, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister. Simonds' father helped him to develop a love and appreciation for nature, and the ability to speak to others with great enthusiasm. As his designs developed, the use of incorporating nature with quality and balance became his foremost goal and attribute to design. Simonds' design was also greatly influenced by his travels to

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. He began to use aspects of the

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

philosophy and their idea of the garden being harmonious. Simonds wanted the garden to become a way for humans to create a relationship with plants. With his travels to Asia and studies under modern architects

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-American architect and founder of the Bauhaus School, who, along with Alvar Aalto, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, is widely regarded as one ...

and

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981), was a Hungarian-born modernist architect and furniture designer. At the Bauhaus he designed the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, which ''The New York Times'' have called some of the most i ...

at Harvard, Simonds' designs became the best they could be and remain a part of today's society, influencing rising architects.

Significance to landscape architecture

Simonds moved the focus in landscape architecture from plants to the idea of plants and human relationship. He created a movement of change from landscape specialists to landscape

environmentalists An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, cities, and regional spaces, urban d ...

ers, and regional planners. The style in which he created was no longer just a design, but rather it became a place for people to experience. John Ormsbee Simonds will always have a great impact on Landscape Architecture and will continue to influence many landscape designs.

References

Lowry, Patricia. "A John O. Simonds: Influential Landscape Architect." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2005. University of Florida. 28 Oct 2007 http://www.iflaonline.org/news/john_simonds.html

External links

Chicago Botanic Garden

John Ormsbee Simonds Remembered
Includes photographs of major designs.

* ttp://www.asla.org/ American Society of Landscape Architects {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonds, John O. American landscape and garden designers American landscape architects American environmentalists American garden writers American male non-fiction writers American architecture writers 1913 births 2005 deaths People from Jamestown, North Dakota Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni American nature writers 20th-century American male writers

Career

Influences

Significance to landscape architecture

See also

References

External links