United States of America -- Rhode Island -- Newport -- Newport
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, photocopies of articles.
General:
This Modernist garden was created right after World War II, designed by Christopher Tunnard. It still survives today, perhaps the only existing commissioned landscape design by the man who influenced many of the United States most celebrated postwar architects and landscape architects. At only 65' x 42', the garden has an extreme austerity in design with a hint of luxury in its fountains, thick hedges and sculpture. The plants are cut and trimmed into an ordained shape, and the pattern is designed to be seen from the ground, where its curves interlock and turn back on themselves. Only two kinds of trees are used - lime (Tilia) and arbor vitae (Thuja); and three kinds of permanent plants - ivy (Hedera), box (Buxus) and yew (Taxus). The lime trees will eventually be pleached into an architectural block to throw the ground pattern into even greater contrast. The ivy is in slightly raised mounds, edged in places with small summer flowers. The bedding plants are purple and white petunias with carnations and lemon-yellow thunbergias." The sculpture, 'Chimerical Font,' by Jean Arp, is golden bronze centered on a plinth in a black lacquered rectangular pool. The other pools (two circular, one biomorphic) are shallow and painted white. Of note are the unusual shapes of the pruned boxwoods in the shapes of question marks and semi-colons; the colorful flowers; and the 6th linden along the left and end wall, now covered in Boston ivy, and originally painted white to complete a design that very much relied on strong figure-ground relationship.
Christopher Tunnard (1910-1979) was born in Canada, moved to England in 1929 and received a diploma from the Royal Horticultural Society the following year. The period of the eclectic Arts and Crafts movement (which he characterized as "romantic trivialization" of garden design) prompted him to introduce his Modernist views of landscape design. This approach avoided decoration, sentimentality and classical allusion "in favor of functional minimalist designs that provided a friendly and hospitable milieu for rest and recreation." After 10 years practicing garden and landscape work, he immigrated to America at the invitation of Walter Gropius to teach at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (1938-1943). Following the War, Tunnard taught city planning at Yale, advancing to professor and chairman of this department; he did little garden design from that point forward, making this 1949 garden probably one of his last commissions. For the final thirty years of his life, Tunnard put his energies into urban planning and the preservation of historic buildings; his publications in this area include "Man-made America: Chaos or Control?" (1963) which won the 1964 National Book Award in Science, Philosophy and Religion. It is perhaps ironic that Christopher Tunnard ended up of very much the same sentiment as his American patron, Mrs. George W. (Katherine) Warren, founder of the Preservation Society of Newport County (1945). In "Pioneers of American Landscape Design," (2000), Lance Neckar notes that "by the time of his death, he had come full circle to be identified with conservation-and-preservation-oriented attributes toward city revitalization which were antithetical to the Modern movement" that Tunnard had originally espoused.
Tunnard's patrons, George and Katherine Warren, who purchased the property on Mill Street in 1933, chose a part of Newport that was then considered "the other side of the tracks" by their social set, most of whom resided out on Ocean Drive. In New York, where the couple lived "off season," Katherine Warren collected modern art and was on the Advisory Committee of the Museum of Modern Art. Interesting to note that the garden was commissioned in 1949 and distinguished by its functional, minimalist modern design in sharp contrast with its early Federal-style house. The Warrens also added two glass-enclosed rooms on the first and second floors of their home on the garden side, presumably to enjoy this new garden to its full extent. Mrs. Warren died in 1976, bequeathing her home to the Preservation Society of Newport County, which moved its offices to this location in 1977. While the Preservation Society of Newport County owned the property, the garden was heavily shaded by a large beech tree and had become overgrown. It was maintained as they found it without major renovation. The current owner moved into the Mill Street house in 1994 and restored the Tunnard garden in 2001 and has proven to be a conscientious caretaker of this rare, nationally significant garden.
Persons associated with the garden include Tanner Family (former owners, 1776-1807); Samuel F. Gardner (former owner, 1807-1809); Robert Lawton (former owner, 1809-1810); Penelope Lawton (former owner, 1810-1822); Reverend Samuel Austin (former owner, 1822-1826); Francis Henderson (former owner, 1826-1857); Fanny S. Brinley (former owner, 1857-1863); Sallie C. Lawrence (former owner, 1863-1886); Allen G. Paul (former owner, 1886-1916); Florence S. Paul (former owner, 1916-1932); George and Katherine Warren (former owners, 1932-1977); Preservation Society of Newport County (former owner, 1977-1994); Christopher Tunnard (landscape designer, 1949); Eusebio Pleitez (gardener, 2001- ).
Related Materials:
Warren House-Tunnard Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (10 digital images)
Additional photographs are also located in the collections of the Preservation Society of Newport County.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Ng'ambo atlas historic urban landscape of Zanzibar Town's 'other side' Department of Urban and Rural Planning, Zanzibar ; African Architecture Matters ; text, Antoni Folkers [and three others] ; editors, Antoni Folkers and Iga Perzyna
Title:
Historic urban landscape of Zanzibar Town's 'other side'
Author:
Zanzibar Department of Urban and Rural Planning Search this
Close friend of Walter Jo Landor since 1939 and Emeritus Professor of City Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Landor Design Collection, circa 1862-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Close friend of Walter Jo Landor since 1939 and Emeritus Professor of City Planning and Landscape Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Landor Design Collection, circa 1862-2002, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Paseo de los Martires, Cartagena, Colombia [picture postcard]
Topic:
Ethnic Imagery Project, Archives Center
Collector:
Blenkle, Victor A., Dr., 1900-1978 (physician) Search this
Collection Creator:
National Philatelic Collection, Smithsonian Institution. Search this
Blenkle, Victor A., Dr., 1900-1978 (physician) Search this
Extent:
1 Item (color, 3-1/2" x 5-1/2".)
Type:
Archival materials
Postcards
Picture postcards
Place:
Cartagena (Colombia)
Colombia
Caribbean
Scope and Contents:
Color illustration: aerial view of the main avenue, Cartagena, Colombia.
Biographical / Historical:
Cartagena was Colombia's main port to the Caribbean. Colombia's independence from Spain was declared in Cartagena in 1811. The martyrs are the soldiers and civilians who were killed during the Spanish siege of Cartagena. The Boulevard of the Martyrs honors their memory.
General:
Series II, Box 14, Foreign--Colombia.
Collection Restrictions:
The collection is open for research use.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Collection Citation:
Lee Ya-Ching Papers, NASM.2008.0009, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Nevada A hydroplane, the "Bluebird", designed to ride over water. Las Vegas, NV.
Ohio Airflow by doors of Kroger supermarket counteracts weather outside. Saves on heating and air-conditioning bills. St. Louis Air Curtain Co.
Pennsylvania Producing seamless metal pipes. Barium Steel Corp., Phoenixville, PA.
Georgia When city faced an uncertain future, it organized campaign to remove uncertainties by building new schools, playgrounds, and homes. City planning. Georgia Power, Co., Manchester, GA.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but the films are stored off-site. Special arrangements must be made directly with the Archives Center staff to view episodes for which no reference copy exists. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees will be charged for reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Industry on Parade Film Collection, 1950-1959, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Report topics: creosoting, process of seely, preservation, decay, attacks of marine worm, Northern states flora, timber and logging, Southern hardwoods, forestry, lumber in housing and industry, tariffs, Nebraska, lumber manufacturing, New York, city planning, Biltmore Forest, burnettizing, use of chloride of zinc. One item in German, with a map of Philadelphia (1869).
Series Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Some items may be restricted due to fragile condition.
Series Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Series Citation:
Warshaw Collection of Business Americana Subject Categories: Lumber Trade and Industry, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Sponsor:
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
