Saturday, October 06, 2007

The Dean Of Landscape Architecture


Mr. G Baker directs GT12 to this great trailer for "Harmonious World" an upcoming documentary on legendary landscape architect Jens Jensen. Chicago is home to many of Jensen's most stunning and significant work.

The film is being Produced, Written and Directed by Mark Frazel and Carey Lundin, close friends of Mr G. Baker. We believe that Mr Baker himself, too humble to mention it, helped with the, uh, rhythm of the film.

From the producers' website:

At his death the NY Times called him the "dean of landscape architecture." Yet Jensen is barely known outside architectural landscape circles. This film will bring his name to prominence where it belongs alongside Frederick Law Olmsted. He left a powerful legacy: pioneering the conservation movement to save the Indiana Dunes and Starved Rock; setting aside the Cook County Forest Preserves; popularizing the Prarie Style of design; designing the first American Garden and making parks and playgrounds for everyday people.


Jensens's message of environmentalism and design are as fresh today as they were over a century ago: the movement to plant and save the prarie, to idealize it and use it as a design motif to set aside land for recreation. Today, the fight to save our planet is one of our most important issues, we will spotlight the current battles for the Dunes, parks and forest preserve that continue even now.






The film will be released in 2008. Look for it on PBS too!

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