Schwarzmann's design
When the Fairmount Park Commission was organized in 1868 with the authority to purchase and organize additional park grounds, it was telling that they did not choose Olmsted (then the most famous park designer in America) and his master plan for Fairmount Park when they finalized a plan in 1872; he only competed against a young German by the name of H.J. Schwarzmann who had no prior experience designing parks and had merely been a “senior engineer” for the existing park grounds[1]. Perhaps the Commission, which was directed by many upper class Quaker elites, thought that Olmsted’s excessive moralizing sentiments concerning the function of park design to be too Puritanical. Whatever the case, Schwarzmann’s subsequent plans for the park would in many ways distinguish it from the Olmsted legacy and its impact on other urban parks in America.
Under Schwarzmann, the park quickly went about consolidating many of the original plans Sidney had laid out for the 100 acres surrounding Fairmount Hill. However, Schwarzmann’s attention was quickly distracted by the looming centennial and efforts to develop a number of zoos and exhibits for the event, filling the park with attractions and pulling it further away from Olmsted’s more pastoral visions. In 1872, the zoo was established by the park commission and Schwarzmann proceeded to travel around the world, visiting zoological gardens in Europe and elsewhere “to examine buildings and methods of exhibiting animals and birds”[2]. The zoo’s establishment was important for reigniting popular interest in natural science in Philadelphia, and also served an important role in the Centennial Exposition. However, the Zoological Institute was just one of the many exhibits set up during the Centennial (some of which survived after) which highlighted the enormous ways in which knowledge-making had changed since the “ancient” days of Bartram’s gardens in the 18th century. While scientific pursuits up to the late 18th century had been arranged around social gatherings and the free inquiry of gentlemen, whether in Philadelphia or the Royal Society in London, science had become a fully institutionalized pursuit (as had many other domains of knowledge) with coming of age of modernity and the industrial revolution. Science was no longer tied to important social functions or economic exchange and trade, and was importantly no longer aristocratic in nature. The examination of plant life and nature now took place under the guise of enormous centralized institutions like the Horticultural Society in Philadelphia.
The centennial exposition in 1876 was perhaps the single largest gathering of people up to that time, as over ten million visitors came (equivalent to 20% of the nation’s population at the time). Schwarzmann was once again chosen as chief architect (to the surprise of many who suspected his architectural skills) and was given 450 acres in Fairmount park west[3]. Many of the massive structures built during 1874-6 no longer stand today and were demolished shortly after their construction; these include Agricultural Hall, Industrial Hall, and Machinery Hall. However, the remaining structures formed the nucleus of West Fairmount Park and dwarfed the old estates that have been preserved; the notable ones that still stand today include the horticultural garden and the zoo, while the Memorial hall is now the Please Touch museum. The exhibition also led to the wider development of West and North-West Philadelphia as a region, as the area had remained largely agrarian until the centennial.
Yet for all of Schwarzmann’s focus on exhibiting Philadelphia’s industrial capacity during the Centennial (through the largest structures of Machinery, Industrial and Agricultural Hall), Fairmount Park today extends far beyond the borders of Schwarzmann’s original park encompassing a few hundred acres. The formation of Fairmount Park, while being directed under the leadership of a central commission, has continually been defined by its uncentralized planning and use of public-private partnerships. As the park grew exponentially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many former estates were gradually integrated into the park system up and down the Schuylkill River. Because of their state of preservation, few elements of Fairmount Park have been entirely constructed out of scratch. In many ways, the park remains an amalgam of surviving estates which maintain important parts of their old identity.
Under Schwarzmann, the park quickly went about consolidating many of the original plans Sidney had laid out for the 100 acres surrounding Fairmount Hill. However, Schwarzmann’s attention was quickly distracted by the looming centennial and efforts to develop a number of zoos and exhibits for the event, filling the park with attractions and pulling it further away from Olmsted’s more pastoral visions. In 1872, the zoo was established by the park commission and Schwarzmann proceeded to travel around the world, visiting zoological gardens in Europe and elsewhere “to examine buildings and methods of exhibiting animals and birds”[2]. The zoo’s establishment was important for reigniting popular interest in natural science in Philadelphia, and also served an important role in the Centennial Exposition. However, the Zoological Institute was just one of the many exhibits set up during the Centennial (some of which survived after) which highlighted the enormous ways in which knowledge-making had changed since the “ancient” days of Bartram’s gardens in the 18th century. While scientific pursuits up to the late 18th century had been arranged around social gatherings and the free inquiry of gentlemen, whether in Philadelphia or the Royal Society in London, science had become a fully institutionalized pursuit (as had many other domains of knowledge) with coming of age of modernity and the industrial revolution. Science was no longer tied to important social functions or economic exchange and trade, and was importantly no longer aristocratic in nature. The examination of plant life and nature now took place under the guise of enormous centralized institutions like the Horticultural Society in Philadelphia.
The centennial exposition in 1876 was perhaps the single largest gathering of people up to that time, as over ten million visitors came (equivalent to 20% of the nation’s population at the time). Schwarzmann was once again chosen as chief architect (to the surprise of many who suspected his architectural skills) and was given 450 acres in Fairmount park west[3]. Many of the massive structures built during 1874-6 no longer stand today and were demolished shortly after their construction; these include Agricultural Hall, Industrial Hall, and Machinery Hall. However, the remaining structures formed the nucleus of West Fairmount Park and dwarfed the old estates that have been preserved; the notable ones that still stand today include the horticultural garden and the zoo, while the Memorial hall is now the Please Touch museum. The exhibition also led to the wider development of West and North-West Philadelphia as a region, as the area had remained largely agrarian until the centennial.
Yet for all of Schwarzmann’s focus on exhibiting Philadelphia’s industrial capacity during the Centennial (through the largest structures of Machinery, Industrial and Agricultural Hall), Fairmount Park today extends far beyond the borders of Schwarzmann’s original park encompassing a few hundred acres. The formation of Fairmount Park, while being directed under the leadership of a central commission, has continually been defined by its uncentralized planning and use of public-private partnerships. As the park grew exponentially during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many former estates were gradually integrated into the park system up and down the Schuylkill River. Because of their state of preservation, few elements of Fairmount Park have been entirely constructed out of scratch. In many ways, the park remains an amalgam of surviving estates which maintain important parts of their old identity.