Laurie Olin (born 1938,

Marshfield, Wisconsin Marshfield is a city in northwest Wood and southwest Marathon counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10, Highway 13 and Highway 97. The largest city in Wood County, its population was 18,929 at t ...

) is an 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 ...

. He has worked on

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and ga ...

projects at diverse scales, from private residential gardens to public parks and corporate/museum campus plans.

Early life

Olin grew up in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U ...

, and earned his degree in Architecture from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, where he was mentored under

Richard Haag Richard Haag (October 23, 1923 – May 9, 2018) was an American landscape architect. He worked on Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington and on the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island. Furthermore, he founded the Landscape Architecture Progra ...

Career

After graduating he worked for offices in Seattle, New York City, and London. In 1976 he became a professor for the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

, where he offered courses on the design of environments. In 1986 he became head chair of the landscape architecture program at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

. After serving as chair at Harvard, Olin returned to University of Pennsylvania where he continues to be Practice Professor of Landscape Architecture.

Founding OLIN

Olin is the founding partner of the landscape architecture and urban design firm OLIN, formerly Olin Partnership. The firm received the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Landscape Design in 2008, and in 2010 was on the winning team in the competition to design the new

United States Embassy in London The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. It is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events relating ...

with architects KieranTimberlake.

Writing

Olin has written widely on the history and theory of architecture and landscape, receiving the Bradford Williams medal for best writing on Landscape Architecture. Olin co-authored ''La Foce: A Garden and Landscape in Tuscany'', which includes a historical essay, along with photographs, sketches, and a critical analysis of the early 20th-century garden in Italy. ''Across the Open Field'' (2000), is both a memoir and series of essays on the evolution of the English landscape. He is also the author of ''Transforming the Commonplace'' (1996) and ''Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers'' (2006, with

Witold Rybczynski Witold Rybczynski (born 1 March 1943) is a Canadian American architect, professor and writer. He is currently the Martin and Margy Meyerson Professor Emeritus of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. Early life Rybczynski was born in E ...

), on

James Deering James Deering (November 12, 1859 – September 21, 1925) was an American executive in the management of his family's Deering Harvester Company and later International Harvester, as well as a socialite and an antiquities collector. He built h ...

's mansion in Coconut Grove, Florida.

Awards and honors

Olin is a

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, an American Academy of Rome Fellow, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

, the 1999 Wyck-Strickland Award recipient. Olin won the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture in 1972, was the recipient of the 1998 Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was recently inducted into the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. Olin was a speaker in the Spotlight on Design Lecture Series at the

National Building Museum The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private non-profit i ...

in 2003. In 1994 he was elected into the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the ...

. In 2013 he was presented with the prestigious National Medal of Arts by President

Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. Awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, it is the highest honor given to artists by the US Government.

Notable projects

Europe

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bisho ...

, London, England * Brancusi Ensemble,

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...

, Romania *

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (german: Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas), also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by arc ...

, Berlin, Germany (with architect

Peter Eisenman Peter Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his writing and speaking about architecture as well as his designs, which have been called high modernist or deconstructiv ...

) * Westferry Circus, London, England

United States

Apple Park Apple Park is the corporate headquarters of Apple Inc., located in Cupertino, California, United States. It was opened to employees in April 2017, while construction was still underway, and superseded the original headquarters at 1 Infinite ...

, Cupertino, California * Director Park, Portland, Oregon *

1 Memorial Drive 1 Memorial Drive is the headquarters complex of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The 618,000 square foot complex consisting of a 14-story tower and two-story base containing its cash processing and operations facilities was designed by Pei ...

, campus of the headquarters of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City *

ARCO ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

corporate headquarters, La Palma, California *

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

, Manhattan, New York *

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Th ...

, Manhattan, New York *

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the ...

, Manhattan, New York *

Getty Center The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion center opened to the public on December 16, 1997 and is well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overl ...

Brentwood, Los Angeles Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. A sma ...

, California * Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, Manhattan, New York * Mill River Park & Greenway, Stamford, Connecticut *

Pacific Park Pacific Park is an oceanfront amusement park located in Santa Monica, California. The park, located on the Santa Monica Pier, looks directly out on the Pacific Ocean, in the direction of Catalina Island. It is the only amusement park directly l ...

, open space around development, Brooklyn, New York * Pershing Square, Los Angeles, California * Robert F. Wagner Park, New York *

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Campus Development Plan) *

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and ...

, Washington, DC *

Toledo Museum of Art The Toledo Museum of Art is an internationally known art museum located in the Old West End neighborhood of Toledo, Ohio. It houses a collection of more than 30,000 objects. With 45 galleries, it covers 280,000 square feet and is currently in th ...

, Toledo, Ohio *

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden The National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden is the most recent addition to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is located on the National Mall between the National Gallery's West Building and the Smithsonian ...

, Washington, DC * LDS Conference Center roof ambient, part of

The Gardens at Temple Square Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City is surrounded by urban gardens and parks which cover approximately within Temple Square, the Conference Center, and the area surrounding headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LD ...

, Salt Lake City, Utah

Awards

* ''ASLA Merit Award'', ARCO Research Center, 1984 * ''Progressive Architecture Magazine Design Award'', Battery Park City, 1985 * ''Urban Landscape Institute Award for Excellence for Public Projects'', Bryant Park, 1996 * ''ASLA Landmark Award'', Battery Park City, 2003 * ''ASLA Design Honor Award'', the J. Paul Getty Center, 2003 * ''ASLA Award of Excellence'', The Heart of the Park at

Hermann Park Hermann Park is a urban park in Houston, Texas, situated at the southern end of the Museum District. The park is located immediately north of the Texas Medical Center and Brays Bayou, east of Rice University, and slightly west of the Th ...

, 2005 * ''Mid-Atlantic Construction Magazine Park/Landscape Award of Merit'', the Washington Monument, 2005 * ''AIA Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design'', the University of British Columbia, 2006 * ''ASLA Landscape Architecture Firm Award'' (awarded to OLIN firm), 2006 * ''ASLA General Design Award of Honor'', Columbus Circle, 2006 * ''

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...

Urban Design Award'', the University of British Columbia, 2006 * ''ASLA General Design Award Of Honor'', the Washington Monument, 2008 * ''Cooper-Hewitt

National Design Award The American National Design Awards, founded in 2000, are funded and awarded by Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. There are seven official design categories, and three additional awards. Supplemental awards can be given at the discretio ...

'' (awarded to OLIN firm), 2008 * ''Urban Land Institute Award of Excellence'', Comcast Building (awarded to OLIN firm), 2009 * ''Building Institute's Bybee Prize'', 2010 * ''ASLA Landmark Award'', Bryant Park (awarded to OLIN firm), 2010 * ''ASLA Medal'', 2011 * ''

National Medal of Arts The National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. A prestigious American honor, it is the highest honor given to artists and arts patrons ...

'', 2012 * ''

Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture recognizes individuals for distinguished contributions to the field of architecture. The Medal in Architecture has been jointly awarded each year by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticell ...

'', 2013 * ''

Vincent Scully Prize The Vincent Scully Prize was established in 1999 to recognize exemplary practice, scholarship or criticism in architecture, historic preservation and urban design. Created by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., the award first honored ...

'', 2017

Publications

*''France Sketchbooks,'' 2020. Edited by Laurie Olin an
Pablo Mandel
*''Be Seated'', 2018. *''OLIN: Placemaking'', 2008. * ''Vizcaya: An American Villa and its Members'', with

, 2007. *''La Foce: A Garden and Landscape in Tuscany'', with Benedetta Origo ''et al.'', 2001. *''Across the Open Field: Essays Drawn from English Landscapes'', 2000. * ''Transforming the Common Place: Selections from Laurie Olin's Sketchbook'', 1996. * ''Breath on the Mirror: Seattle's Skid Road Community'', 1973.

References

*Dowdell, Jennifer. "Washington Monument, Security Built In: An Underground Center Nixed as Construction begins on Olin Partnership's Design" ''Landscape Architecture'' 2004. *Dvořák, Petula. "Washington Monument Subtly Fortified" ''Washington Post'' 2005. *Goodridge, Elisabeth
"Landscape Redesigned at Washington Monument
''Deseret News'' 2 April 2006 A.02 *Smith, Sandy. "Laurie Olin: Q and A" ''The Penn Current''. December 13, 2001.
"Concept"
Battery Park City Authority, viewed October 29, 2006.
"Getty Center"
Getty Center Trust. 2003, viewed October 31, 2006.
OLIN
viewed October 28, 2006.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation Online
viewed November 1, 2006.

External links

Official OLIN design studio website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olin, Laurie American landscape architects 1938 births Living people American landscape and garden designers Architects from Alaska Architects from Pennsylvania Architects from Wisconsin Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters United States National Medal of Arts recipients Harvard University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty People from Marshfield, Wisconsin University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni 20th-century American architects 21st-century American architects