TCLF Spotlights the Life and Work of Landscape Architect Laurie Olin [VIDEOS]

Forget TV, this is one landscape architecture video series you won’t want to miss. This week, The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) just launched their video series highlighting the accomplishments of American landscape architect and National Medal of Arts winner Laurie Olin. With a career spanning over forty years on high-profile projects from Bryant Park to The Getty Center, Olin is one of the most influential and best-known landscape architects practicing today. Read on for some of our favorite video picks from the series!

Filmed as the tenth installment to TCLF’s online Pioneers of American Landscape Design Oral History, Olin Oral History consists of 29 illuminating segments offering eye-opening glimpses into Olin’s life, influences, and philosophy. Shot over the course of one week in June 2012, the series is divided into three categories: Biography, Design, and Projects. Each clip is between two to five minutes long.

To get you started, we’ve picked a short handful of our favorite clips to whet your appetite. You can see the full web series on The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s website. Or you can check out their previous pioneer series on leading landscape architects such as Lawrence Halprin and James van Sweden in the archives.

Prelude to Laurie Olin Oral History – Meet the Man Himself

“Hi I’m Laurie Olin. I’m a landscape architect.”

Finding Landscape Architecture – The Influence of Capability Brown

“That was when I thought I need to know more about this stuff. This landscape design…this is pretty good stuff.”

Drawing as a Powerful Tool – The “Power of the Pencil”

“Drawing for me is not just a personal pleasure. It’s a way of working.”

Why Frederick Law Olmsted is a Hero – Starting from the Beginning

“He was a genius. He was a genius not only because  he figured out how to get it done…but because he saw how cities were going to grow and what their needs were environmentally.”

Evoking Nature in the City – The Healing City

“You can’t replicate [nature], but you can emulate it, and you can evoke it. And you can ask for some of its blessings through its attributes.”

Bryant Park – Redesigning an Iconic Space

“This was the beginning of a wave that is changing how we manage parks in America and actually, all around the world.”

Making Cities Work – How to Enhance the Urban Fabric

“My friends might be working on the wine glass, i.e. the buildings but I want to work on the wine, the stuff that flowed through the middle. You know, I was very interested in that other, the other, which people couldn’t see.”

Reflections by Olin Partners – “Lessons from Laurie” Revealed

“Laurie doesn’t separate his professional life and his personal life. They are one and the same. And it’s fun…when we travel, we don’t stop looking, we don’t stop loving, we don’t stop enjoying; and that is really a gift that he has given us.”

Looking for more? Check out TCLF’s full series on their website.