In
the spring of 1895, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) made his first visit to
Bryn Mawr College at M. Carey Thomas's request. Under her proprietary eye and
in association with the campus architects, Cope & Stewardson, Olmsted began
to work out a general plan for the campus. Although mainly retired from professional
practice by 1895, Olmsted played a major role in working out the plan's basic
principles, after which, it was his nephew, stepson, and later partner, John
C. Olmsted (1852-1920), who supervised the project.
Despite concerns over cost and practicality, Thomas believed in hiring the
best and profiting fully from their advice, a view she confirmed later in her
November 4, 1908 letter to John Olmsted: "Of course we cannot afford to
do much in any one year, but what we do ought to be done right."
Thomas
turned down the Olmsteds' offer in 1897 to have their general plan lithographed,
and instead sketched a reduced version of it herself,
which could then be inexpensively reproduced and used for fundraising purposes.
Although the Bryn Mawr College Trustees had informally approved the plan in
December of that year, formal approval was contingent on the resolution of budgetary
issues as well as the architects' determination of the final shape of the new
library and gym enlargement.
With his 1897 general plan, F. L. Olmsted developed a new overall concept for Bryn Mawr's campus. When he began the project, the number of buildings had grown substantially from the time of Vaux's original plan. In addition to Taylor, Merion, the gymnasium and the Deanery, the grounds now included Cartref, President Rhoads's house and now the comptroller's office; Dolgelly, today known as Helfarian; Dalton, the new science building; and three new dormitories - Radnor, Denbigh and Pembroke.
With Denbigh's construction in 1891 and the acquisition of the plot of land
west of Yarrow Street, enabling Yarrow to be closed, Vaux's original concept
for the campus was rendered obsolete. Instead, the new focus was on placing
buildings around the perimeter, providing open space in the center for outdoor
activities and attractive, unobstructed views. Olmsted's plan continued this
focus, primarily through the use of what he referred to as "border"
or "screening" plantations and his strongly urged proposal for the
"obliteration" of the two rows of maple trees north of Taylor Hall,
otherwise known as Senior Row.
Further
reinforcing the new concept for the campus, Olmsted worked closely with Cope
& Stewardson regarding the placement of Rockefeller Hall and the library.
Rockefeller was designed to adjoin the west end of Pembroke and thereby continue
to line the edge of campus. The joining of these two buildings was also designed
to complement the internal positioning of the library. Discussion of the library
site originated in a conference between Olmsted, Stewardson and Cope, in which
Rhoads and Thomas also participated. It was decided then that the library's
placement would form an open quadrangle with Taylor and Pembroke, with its front
entrance centered on the tower of Taylor Hall and its front line aligned with
the projection of Pembroke. Evident from the way that Olmsted has shown them,
the precise footprints of the library and Rockefeller had not yet been resolved
at the time this plan was drawn.
There are several other notable recommendations apparent on this original plan. These include a square plaza to aggrandize the College's main entrance at the corner where Rockefeller Arch now stands, a formal flower garden and an aquatic plant basin at the far end of campus near the present gymnasium, and an evergreen garden next to the future extension of Pembroke.
Although some of these individual projects were never implemented, Olmsted's
general plan was followed fairly faithfully until 1928, when proposals for Goodhart
Hall and later, Rhoads Hall, no longer heeded the pattern. Thomas, who had retired
in 1922 but still maintained a strong presence on campus, strongly objected
to the placement of these new buildings, feeling that the College should continue
to adhere to the original Olmsted concept and plan.
In
the area of the present-day athletic fields, Olmsted designed a quarter-mile
oval bicycle track, with a tree-lined "pleached walk" along one edge
and a central space intended for tennis and basketball, as well as skating in
the winter. Expense and logistical problems did not allow for the center to
be flooded in a controlled manner to create the skating pond. However, this
area did tend to flood and freeze during the winter months, thus on occasion
creating an impromptu version of Olmsted's idea.
Bryn
Mawr College
Campus
Plan - Hutton, Vaux & Olmsted
Collegiate Gothic - Cope and Stewardson
Details & Interior - De Forest
Paving Tiles - Mercer
Decorative Sculpture - Ashbee & Miller
Bryn Mawr College Library Special Collections. September 21 - December 20, 2001
