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Jens Jensen (September 13, 1860 – October 1, 1951) was a Danish-American
landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...
.


Biography

Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl, Denmark, on September 13, 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment. When he was four years old, during the
Second War of Schleswig The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. ...
in 1864, Jensen watched the Prussians invade his town, and burn his family's farm buildings. This invasion, which annexed the land into
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...
, left a deep influence on how Jensen viewed the world of man. He attended the Tune Agricultural School outside
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...
, afterwards undertaking mandatory service in the Prussian Army. During those three years, he sketched parks in the English and French character in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
and other German cities. By 1884, his military service over, Jensen was engaged to Anne Marie Hansen. Coupled with his wish to escape the family farm, this led to his decision to immigrate to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
that year.


United States

Initially Jensen worked in
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 ...
, and then at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, before moving to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
and taking a job as a laborer for the West Park Commission. He was soon promoted to a foreman. During this time he was allowed to design and plant a garden of exotic flowers. When the garden withered and died, he traveled into the surrounding prairie and transplanted native wildflowers. Jensen transplanted the wildflowers into a corner of Union Park, creating what became the American Garden in 1888. Working his way through the park system, Jensen was appointed superintendent of the 200 acre (800,000 m²) Humboldt Park in 1895. By the late 1890s, the West Park Commission was entrenched in corruption. After refusing to participate in political graft, Jensen was ousted by a dishonest park board in 1900. He was eventually reinstated and by 1905 he was general superintendent of the entire West Park System in Chicago. His design work for the city can be seen at Garfield Park, Humboldt Park,
Douglass Park Douglass Park is a part of the Chicago Park District on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1869 and initially named South Park,Graf, John, ''Chicago's Parks'' Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 11., . its are in the North Lawndal ...
, Pulaski Park, Columbus Park, The North Park Village Nature Center water fall and pond. Jensen helped establish the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and selected many of the sites eventually acquired by the Forest Preserve District. He also helped establish Jens Jensen Park near his home and the Ravinia Music Festival grounds, as well as the grounds of nearby Green Bay and Ravinia elementary schools. In the 1910s, Jensen played a role in building support for the preservation of part of the Indiana Dunes sand dune ecosystem, also near Chicago, thwarting industrialization plans of J. P. Morgan and
Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...
."Reading 3: Beauty of the Wild", U.S. National Park Service, accessed April 6, 201

/ref>


Private practice

In 1920 he retired from the park system and started his own
landscape architecture Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
practice. He worked on private estates and municipal parks throughout the U.S. He was commissioned by Eleanor and
Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...
for four residences, three in Michigan and one in Maine, between 1922 and 1935.Grese, Robert E., ''Jens Jensen, Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens''. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. . pp. 102 Other projects included the Morse Dell Plain House and Garden (1926) at
Hammond, Indiana Hammond ( ) is a city in Lake County, Indiana. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, and the only city in Indiana to border Chicago. First settled in the mid-19th century, it is one of the oldest cities of northern Lake County. As of the ...
and the William Whitaker Landscape and House (1929) at Crown Point, Indiana. A major landscape project, with
Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...
, was for 'Gaukler Point', the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House designed by architect Albert Kahn in 1929, on the shores of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores,
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
for
Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist who was the son of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor Company f ...
and his wife. Jensen did the master plan and designed the estate's gardens. He employed his traditional 'long view,' giving visitors a glimpse of the residence down the long meadow after the passing the entry gates, then only brief partial views along the long drive, and only at the end revealing the entire house and another view back up the long meadow. The 'Gaukler Point' gardens and residence are now a public historical landscape and house
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...
and on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
. He also designed the gardens for Edsel and Eleanor's summer estate 'Skylands' in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island in
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...
(1922). Jensen did design work for their two other Michigan residences, one being 'Haven Hill,' between 1922 and 1935. 'Haven Hill', now within the Highland Recreation Area near White Lake Township in southeastern Michigan, is designated as both a Michigan State Historical Landmark and State Natural Preserve. Jensen's landscape elements, with the diversity of tree, plant and animal life, combine aesthetics, history and nature. For Clara and
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
Jensen employed his 'delayed view' approach in designing the arrival at the residence of their estate,
Fair Lane Fair Lane was the estate of Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan, in the United States. It was named after an area in Cork in Ireland where Ford's adoptive grandfather, Patrick Ahern, was born. ...
, in
Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States per ...
. Instead of proceeding straight to the house or even seeing it, the entrance drive leads visitors through the estate's dense
woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
areas. Bends in the drive, planted on the curves' inside arc with large trees give a feeling of a natural reason for the turn, and obscure any long view. Suddenly, the visitor is propelled out of the forest and in the open space where the residence is presented fully in view in front of them. This idea of wandering was one which Jens put forth in almost all of his designs. Expansive meadows and gardens make up the larger landscape, with naturalistic massings of
flowers A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...
surrounding the house. The largest axial meadow, the "Path of the Setting Sun" is aligned so that on the
summer solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...
the setting sun glows through a precise parting of the trees at meadow's end. The boathouse, with stonework cliffs designed by Jensen, allowed
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...
to travel on the Rouge River in his electric boat. Currently 72 acres (290,000 m²) of the original estate are preserved as a historic landscape and with the house are a museum, and a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
. Jensen did other projects for Henry Ford including: The Dearborn Inn, Dearborn, Michigan, in 1931 (architect Albert Kahn, the first airport hotel in the country and National Historic Landmark); the Henry Ford Hospital; the Greenfield Village historic re-creation and its Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn; and the 'Ford Pavilion' at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exposition. In 1923 he designed Lincoln High School in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, on a area on Lake Michigan. A number of projects with Jensen designed landscapes are listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
including the Jens Jensen Summer House and Studio, Rosewood Park, the May Theilgaard Watts House (architect;
John S. Van Bergen John Shellette Van Bergen (October 2, 1885 – December 20, 1969) was an American architect born in Oak Park, Illinois. Van Bergen started his architectural career as an apprentice draftsman in 1907. In 1909 he went to work for Frank Lloyd Wrigh ...
), The A.G. Becker Property (architect; Howard Van Doren Shaw), The Samuel Holmes House (architect; Robert Seyfarth) and the Harold Florshiem estate (architect; Ernest Grunsfeld), all of which are located in Highland Park, Illinois where Jensen lived. In 1935, after the death of his wife, Jensen moved from
Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in the southeastern part of Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located ...
to Ellison Bay, Wisconsin where he established
The Clearing Folk School The Clearing Folk School, usually called just The Clearing, is a continuing education institution located near Ellison Bay, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded by Jens Jensen in 1935. A successful landscape architect, Jensen began acquiri ...
, which he called a "school of the soil" to train future landscape architects. It is now preserved as open space and an education center in the folk school tradition. In his maturity, Jensen designed Lincoln Memorial Garden in
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest ...
. This plan was completed in 1935 and planted from 1936 to 1939. Jens Jensen died at his home, now
The Clearing Folk School The Clearing Folk School, usually called just The Clearing, is a continuing education institution located near Ellison Bay, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded by Jens Jensen in 1935. A successful landscape architect, Jensen began acquiri ...
on October 1, 1951, at the age of 91.


Collaborations

Jens Jensen partnered with architect Howard Van Doren Shaw.Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2011). Marktown: Clayton Mark's Planned Worker Community in Northwest Indiana. South Shore Journal, 4. In the course of his long career he worked with many well known architects including Louis Sullivan,
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
, George Maher and Albert Kahn.


See also

* History of landscape architecture * History of gardens


References


Further reading

* Russell, Virginia L., "You Dear Old Prima Donna: The Letters of Frank Lloyd Wright and Jens Jensen," Landscape Journal 20.2 (2001): 141-155. * Egan, Dave, and William H. Tishler. "Jens Jensen, Native Plants, and the Concept of Nordic Superiority." Landscape Journal 18.1 (1999): 11-29. * Grese, Robert E., ''Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens'', Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1998 * Groening, Gert and Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn. "Response: If the Shoe Fits, Wear it!" Landscape Journal 13.1 (1994): 62-3. * Groening, Gert, and Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn. "Some Notes on the Mania for Native Plants in Germany." Landscape Journal 11.2 (1992): 116-26. * Kling, Samuel. "Regional Plans and Regional Plants: Jens Jensen's Vernacular Landscape and Metropolitan Planning in Chicago, 1904-1920." ''Journal of Urban History'' 44.6 (November 2018): 1154-1175

* Sorvig, Kim. "Natives and Nazis: An Imaginary Conspiracy in Ecological Design, Commentary on G. Groening and J. Wolschke-Bulmahn's "Some Notes on the Mania for Native Plants in Germany"." Landscape Journal 13.1 (1994): 58-61. * Telfer, Sid, ''The Jens Jensen I Knew'' * (uncited)
Jensen Will Open School of Nature

continued
''Door County Advocate'', Volume 74, Number 14, June 14, 1935


External links


The Cultural Landscape Foundation, "It Takes One: Carey Lundin"

Official website of the film Jens Jensen The Living Green.

Jens Jensen Legacy Project

Official 'The Clearing' website

Official Edsel & Eleanor Ford 'Gaukler Point' website
– ''gardens and museum.''
Official Edsel & Eleanor Ford 'Haven Hill' museum website.

Official Henry Ford 'Fair Lane' website
– ''gardens and museum.''
Virtual tour of the Henry and Clara Ford 'Fair Lane' estate.


– ''Chicago Wilderness Magazine: "Jens Jensen" — Spring 2001 issue.''



– ''Highland park history: artists''
Sterling Morton Library
– ''Landscape drawings in the Suzette Morton Davidson Special Collections.''

– ''a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan.''
Designing in the Prairie Spirit
An online film that features Jensen's influences on landscape design today. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Jens American landscape and garden designers American conservationists American landscape architects Danish landscape architects 1860 births 1951 deaths People from Sønderborg Municipality Danish emigrants to the United States Artists from Chicago People from Door County, Wisconsin