Alan Ward's Photographic Interpretation of American Designed Landscapes

The photographic archive of landscape photographer and architect Alan Ward has been recently gifted to the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). The collection features 110 Portfolios composed of approximately 2,500 images of parks, estates, memorials, gardens, university campuses, cemeteries, museums, and botanical gardens, taken in 12 different countries, and captured by Alan Ward, a principal at the Boston-based firm Sasaki and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

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© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation
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© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The project will initially showcase twenty portfolios and continue to expand with time. Alan Ward recently photographed the iconic French gardens at Vaux-le-Victome; the first photographic collection to be housed at TCLF, known in the industry for its visibility and its focus on designed landscapes.

As the collection expands, each site will gain public visibility and appreciation from the visitors. In fact, the twenty portfolios that will be unveiled at the TCLF launch include 14 sites in the US, 4 in the UK, and 2 in France. Each portfolio will be paired with an introductory “Notes on the Making of the Photographs.”


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© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Alan Ward's Photographic Interpretation of American Designed Landscapes - Image 10 of 22
© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

Ward, functioning as an artist, creates a two-dimensional representation of light, atmosphere, objects, and surfaces, which in itself constitutes a work of art. Simultaneously, he examines the entirety of landscape architecture's creative process, crafting and gathering perspectives that offer a critical perspective on the extensive realm of landscape architecture production. -- Gary Hilderbrand, in the introduction to Alan Ward's 1998 book American Designed Landscapes: A Photographic Interpretation.

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© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation
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© Alan Ward, Courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation

The following is the list of the 20 different portfolios being showcased at the opening:

  • Biltmore, Ashville, N.C. (Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., Olmsted Brothers, and others, landscape architects; Richard Morris Hunt, architect); 1996, 2022; 30 images;
  • Blenheim Palace Gardens, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, U.K. (Lancelot “Capability” Brown, landscape gardener; John Vanbrugh, Nicholas Hawksmoor, architects); 2007, 2014, 23 images;
  • Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA (Richard Haag, landscape architect); 1996; 20 images;
  • Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C. (Beatrix Farrand, landscape gardener, and others; Frederick H. Brooke, architect); 1984, 2022; 31 images;
  • Fountain Place, Dallas, TX (Dan Kiley, Peter Ker Walker, landscape architects; I.M. Pei & Partners, architects); 2013, 2022; 19 images;
  • Gwinn, Bratenahl, OH (Warren Manning, Ellen Shipman, landscape architects, Charles Platt architect); 1996; 17 images;
  • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (multiple designers); 1977, 1996, 2022; 27 images;
  • John Deere Administrative Center, Moline, IL (Stuart Dawson, landscape architect; Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo, architects); 1996; 18 images;
  • Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX (George Patton, Harriet Pattison, landscape architects; Louis Kahn, architect); 2008, 2023; 22 images;
  • Miller Garden, Columbus, IN (Dan Kiley, landscape architect; Eero Saarinen, Kevin Roche, architects; Alexander Girard, interior designer); 1976, 1978, 1996; 33 images;
  • Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, MA (Jacob Bigelow, Alexander Wadsworth, Henry Dearborn, and others, designers and landscape architects) 32 images, 1977-87; 32 images;
  • Naumkeag, Stockbridge, MA (Fletcher Steele, Nathan Barrett, landscape architects; McKim, Mead & White, architects); 1983, 1996; 31 images;
  • Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France (Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart, architect); 1985- 1991; 27 images;
  • Places des Vosges, Paris, France; 1985, 1991-1993, 2009, 2023; 21 images;
  • Riverside, Riverside, IL (Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., Calvert Vaux, landscape architects); 1977, 1996; 17 images;
  • Rousham, Rousham, Oxfordshire, U.K. (William Kent, landscape architect, and architect); 1985, 1997, 2014; 29 images;
  • Sissinghurst, Cranbrook, Kent, U.K. (Vita Sackville-West, Harold Nicholson, owners, and landscape designers); 1999, 2003; 32 images;
  • Stan Hywet Hall, Akron, OH (Warren Manning, Ellen Shipman, T.R. Otsuka, landscape architects; Charles Sumner Schneider, architect); 1984-1996; 27 images;
  • Stourhead, Stourton, Wiltshire, U.K. (Henry Hoare II, owner, and landscape designer; Colen Campbell, Francis Cartwright, William Wilkins, Charles Parker, architects); 1985, 2007, 2014; 28 images;
  • Vizcaya, Miami, FL (Diego Suarez, landscape architect; Francis Burrall Hoffman, architect, Paul Chalfin, artistic advisor); 1980-1981, 2000; 28 images.

Info via the Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF).

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Cite: Nour Fakharany. "Alan Ward's Photographic Interpretation of American Designed Landscapes" 04 Sep 2023. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1006336/alan-wards-photographic-interpretation-of-american-designed-landscapes> ISSN 0719-8884

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