Alfred Caldwell
Encyclopedia
Alfred Caldwell was an American architect
best known for his landscape architecture
in and around Chicago
, Illinois
.
Succeeded in his IIT teaching role by former student Paul Thomas.
Caldwell, like his mentor Jens Jensen, promoted a natural style of landscape design. The intent was to manufacture a native landscape that copied natural ecosystem
s. A complete natural ecosystem requires little maintenance other than removal of non-native invasive species
. Due to the subtleness of his planting designs and the live nature of landscape materials, many of Caldwell’s projects have fallen into disrepair as the result of improper maintenance and modifications.
Caldwell’s buildings are frequently mistaken for the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
. Both architects created Prairie School
designs in and around Chicago at roughly the same period of time. Caldwell stressed the importance of orientation for passive solar design, as well as integration into the landscape.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
best known for his landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
in and around Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Career
- Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignThe University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, left before completing a degree. - 1926-1931 Worked for landscape architect Jens Jensen (landscape architect)Jens Jensen (landscape architect)Jens Jensen was a Danish-American landscape architect.-Early life:Jens Jensen was born near Dybbøl in Slesvig, Denmark, in 1860, to a wealthy farming family. For the first nineteen years of his life he lived on his family's farm, which cultivated his love for the natural environment...
. - 1931-1933 private practice.
- 1933-1936 Superintendent of Parks, DubuqueDubuque-Places:United States* Dubuque, Iowa* Dubuque County, Iowa* Dubuque, Kansas* East Dubuque, Illinois* University of Dubuque* USS Dubuque-Surnames:* Julien Dubuque, a French Canadian who arrived near what now is known as Dubuque, Iowa...
, IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. - 1936-1939 landscape designer, Chicago Park DistrictChicago Park DistrictThe Chicago Park District is the oldest and largest park district in the U.S.A, with a $385 million annual budget. It has the distinction of spending the most per capita on its parks, even more than Boston in terms of park expenses per capita...
. - 1944-1959 Hired by Mies van der Rohe to teach landscape architecture at the Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
(IIT) College of Architecture. Caldwell resigned in 1959 in relation to dispute with the college administration. - 1965 taught at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.
- 1965-1973 taught at University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. - 1980 awarded the Distinguished Educator Award from the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of ArchitectsAmerican Institute of ArchitectsThe American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
. - 1981 returned to teaching at IIT.
Succeeded in his IIT teaching role by former student Paul Thomas.
Major works
- Eagle Point ParkEagle Point ParkEagle Point Park is a public park located in Dubuque, Iowa. The park is located in the northeast corner of the city. Eagle Point is mostly situated on a bluff that overlooks the Mississippi River and the Dubuque Lock and Dam...
, Dubuque, Iowa. - Promontory PointPromontory Point (Chicago)Promontory Point is a man-made peninsula jutting into Lake Michigan. It is located in Chicago's Burnham Park. The Point was constructed from landfill and by the late 1930s was protected by a seawall or revetment...
, Burnham ParkBurnham Park (Chicago)Burnham Park is a public park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The park, which lines along six miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, connects Grant Park at 14th st. to Jackson Park at 56th St. The of parkland is owned and managed by Chicago Park District. It was named for urban...
, Chicago, Illinois. - Riis Park, Chicago.
- Lily Pool at Lincoln ParkLincoln ParkLincoln Park is an urban park in Chicago, which gave its name to the Lincoln Park, Chicago community area.Lincoln Park may also refer to:-Urban parks:*Lincoln Park , California*Lincoln Park, San Francisco, California...
. Recently restored, designated as a Chicago LandmarkChicago LandmarkChicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic, cultural,...
. Also known as the Alfred Caldwell Lily PoolAlfred Caldwell Lily Pool-Notes:...
, or as The Rookery. - Campus Landscaping, Illinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of TechnologyIllinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
, Chicago. Major portions destroyed. - Lafayette Park, Detroit, together with his IIT colleagues Ludwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der RoheLudwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect. He is commonly referred to and addressed as Mies, his surname....
and Ludwig HilberseimerLudwig HilberseimerLudwig Karl Hilberseimer was a German architect and urban planner best known for his ties to the Bauhaus and to Mies van der Rohe, as well as for his work in urban planning at Armour Institute of Technology , in Chicago, Illinois.-Life:Hilberseimer studied architecture at the Karlsruhe Technical...
.
Caldwell, like his mentor Jens Jensen, promoted a natural style of landscape design. The intent was to manufacture a native landscape that copied natural ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s. A complete natural ecosystem requires little maintenance other than removal of non-native invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
. Due to the subtleness of his planting designs and the live nature of landscape materials, many of Caldwell’s projects have fallen into disrepair as the result of improper maintenance and modifications.
Caldwell’s buildings are frequently mistaken for the work of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Both architects created Prairie School
Prairie School
Prairie School was a late 19th and early 20th century architectural style, most common to the Midwestern United States.The works of the Prairie School architects are usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands,...
designs in and around Chicago at roughly the same period of time. Caldwell stressed the importance of orientation for passive solar design, as well as integration into the landscape.
Caldwell’s own house
In the 1940s Caldwell began construction of his own house near Bristol, Wisconsin, along with planting nearly 30 acres (121,405.8 m²) of eastern hardwood forest. It was intended to be a working hobby farm. An apple orchard was planted, but farm buildings were never completed. As work progressed the house featured a low cost construction materials technique: stone for the stone walls was donated by neighboring farmers, labor was provided by teaching students how to build a stone wall.External links
- Art Institute of Chicago: Alfred Caldwell oral interview
- Promontory Point Park and Promontory Annex in Burnham Park
- Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool Hours
- Chicago Park District’s Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool
- Alfred Caldwell collection at the Canadian Centre for Architecture
Further reading
- Dennis Domer: Alfred Caldwell: The Life and Work OF A Prairie School Landscape Architect. The Johns Hopkins University press, Virginia, 1997, ISBN 0-8018-5551-9