Jens Jensen was one of America's greatest landscape designers and conservationists. Using native plants and "fitting" designs, he advocated that our gardens, parks, roads, playgrounds, and cities should be harmonious with nature and its ecological processes—a belief that was to become a major theme of modern American landscape design. In Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, Robert E. Grese draws on Jensen's writings and plans, interviews with people who knew him, and analyses of his projects to present a clear picture of Jensen's efforts to enhance and preserve "native" landscapes.
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Why, then, has Jensen continued to attract considerable attention? Robert Grese's book addresses this and other questions with clarity and intensity. Long in the making, this book was well worth the wait. It is a labor of love, and a product of profound intellect and insight... This volume reflects not only Grese's authoritative knowledge of Jensen's life and work but also stresses the many and valuable lessons that Jensen's legacy holds for us now and into the future.
(Landscape Architecture )While Grese clearly sees Jensen's work as an 'inspiration for a whole new generation of designers,' he also recognizes the potential for carrying Jensen's vision much further today... Grese's book is a superb study, thoroughly researched and well written. It is attractively designed and durably bound, with quality reproduction of photographs and plans... This is clearly an essential addition to our landscape literature and a book that belongs in the library of every serious landscape architect and conservationist.
(Landscape Journal )Robert Grese has written a most sympathetic appraisal of Jensen's life and work. It provides an indispensable guide to the projects he carried out, compiled from plans, photographs and other documents in various archives.
(Ecumene )A meticulous piece of research, thoroughly documented with an extensive bibliography, a complete listing of Jensen's design work, and definitions of names and terms of all the people and ideas relevant to Jensen and his work. The book places Jensen in the context in which he worked and ties landscape architecture to the reform movements of society to which he was so committed. It is an excellent book for readers interested in the Midwest landscape and the people who shaped cities and parks in the twentieth century.
(Michigan Historical Review )About the Author
Robert E. Grese teaches landscape architecture in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An American Mastergardener,
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This review is from: Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens (Creating the North American Landscape) (Paperback)
One of the rare works on this American master. Essential for any gardener who wants to understand the nature of natural plantings. Excellent photos of Jensen's works.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
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Compelling and interesting,
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This review is from: Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens (Creating the North American Landscape) (Paperback)
Jens Jensen was an influential, though little remembered today, landscape architect and this book explains his place in our civic history. Small part biography, large part professional analysis: Grese has constructed an admirable case for caring about Jensen's career. His role in the prarie landscaping movement, his growing adoption of naturalistic and native plantings, and his insights into the role that urban parks (and their character) play in the living of urban life are all revelatory. The book is well-written, and held my interest throughout. The subject is admittedly a bit dry, but it significantly increased my understanding of Chicago's park system and improved the way I look at modern landscapes. I highly recommend to the book to students of native plants and landscape design.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Jens Jensen was always a man of contradictions, if not extremes. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
prairie architects, proposed park areas, metropolitan park system, meadow spaces, prairie spirit, council rings, landscape architecture program, native landscape, ideal section, other small trees, roadside planting, design career, park commission, prairie landscape, sun opening, native plantings, landscape gardening, formal rose garden, park district Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lincoln Memorial Garden, West Parks, United States, Ellison Bay, Friends of Our Native Landscape, Lincoln Highway, Humboldt Park, Central Park, Prairie Club, Indiana Dunes, Courtesy of Jensen Collection, New York, Union Park, Henry Ford, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Chicago Park District, Lake Michigan, Jens Jensen, Morton Arboretum, South Park, Frederick Law Olmsted, Garfield Park, Lincoln Park, Edsel Ford New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Jens Jensen was always a man of contradictions, if not extremes. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
prairie architects, proposed park areas, metropolitan park system, meadow spaces, prairie spirit, council rings, landscape architecture program, native landscape, ideal section, other small trees, roadside planting, design career, park commission, prairie landscape, sun opening, native plantings, landscape gardening, formal rose garden, park district Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lincoln Memorial Garden, West Parks, United States, Ellison Bay, Friends of Our Native Landscape, Lincoln Highway, Humboldt Park, Central Park, Prairie Club, Indiana Dunes, Courtesy of Jensen Collection, New York, Union Park, Henry Ford, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Chicago Park District, Lake Michigan, Jens Jensen, Morton Arboretum, South Park, Frederick Law Olmsted, Garfield Park, Lincoln Park, Edsel Ford New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 84
books:
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18
books
cite this book:
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- American Plants for American Gardens by Edith A. Roberts on 4 pages
- A Sand County Almanac (Outdoor Essays & Reflections) by Aldo Leopold on page 198, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Art of the Olmsted Landscape by Bruce Kelly in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening (American Society of Landscape Architects Centennial Reprints series) by Wilhelm Miller on page 45, page 46, and Back Matter
- Italian Villas And Their Gardens (Classical America Series in Art and Architecture) by Edith Wharton on page 25, and Back Matter
See all 84 books this book cites
- Midwestern Landscape Architecture by William H. Tishler on page 138, page 189, and page 211
- Forest and Garden: Traces of Wildness in a Modernizing Land, 1897-1949 by Melanie Simo in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- American Plants for American Gardens by Edith A. Roberts in Front Matter
- Local Attachments: The Making of an American Urban Neighborhood, 1850 to 1920 (Creating the North American Landscape) by Professor Alexander Von Hoffman in Back Matter
- The North American Railroad: Its Origin, Evolution, and Geography (Creating the North American Landscape) by James E. Vance Jr. on page 357
See all 18 books citing this book
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