Stanley Hart White

Last updated
Stanley Hart White
Born(1891-02-15)February 15, 1891
Brooklyn, New York
Died1979
Denver, Colorado
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Cornell University
Harvard University
Occupation(s)Landscape architect, professor
Employer University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign [1]
Known forInventor of the green wall, Modernized Landscape Architecture
SpouseBlanche Bigney
ChildrenJanice Hart White; born March 6, 1918, died September 8, 2002

Stanley Hart White was a professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Illinois from 1922 to 1959 [1] and the inventor of the green wall. [2]

Contents

Career

White called his invention "Botanical Bricks" and developed prototypes in his backyard in Urbana, Illinois. Stanley's brother E.B. White documented the invention in his 1937 letter to Katherine S. White, writing, “I guess everyone has crazy brothers and sisters. I know I have. Stan, by the way, has taken out a patent on an invention of his called ‘Botanical Bricks,’ which are simply plant units capable of being built up to any height, for quick landscape effects, the vertical surfaces covered with flowering vines, or the like. He thinks that the idea has great possibilities for such things as world fairs, city yards, indoor gardens, and many other projects. I think perhaps he has got hold of something, [3] and have written him for more information. He certainly deserves a break.” [4]

Stanley refined the vertical garden typology with his patent [5] for the "vegetation-Bearing Architectonic Structure and System (1938)" in which he outlined the scope for a new field of vegetation-bearing architecture. The impact of this invention has still unrealized provocations on this history of gardens and designed landscapes, establishing precedent for verdant modernism in the prewar Middle West. The wall was reconstructed in 2012-13 as part of a Graham Foundation Research Award.

Stanley Hart White is also known for his innovative teaching style and his influence on the work of Richard Haag, Hideo Sasaki, Peter Walker, Stu Dawson, Philip H. Lewis Jr., and numerous others. [6]

Personal life

Stanley Hart White married Blanche Bigney; they had one daughter, Janice Hart White, an accomplished artist. As E. B. White's niece, Janice was an inspiration for the title character in Stuart Little, Harper and Brothers, 1945.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. B. White</span> American writer (1899–1985)

Elwyn Brooks White was an American writer. He was the author of several highly popular books for children, including Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970). In a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, Charlotte's Web came in first in their poll of the top one hundred children's novels. In addition, he was a writer and contributing editor to The New Yorker magazine and a co-author of the English-language style guide The Elements of Style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippo Brunelleschi</span> Italian Renaissance architect (1377–1446)

Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi, commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture. He is recognized as the first modern engineer, planner, and sole construction supervisor. In 1421, Brunelleschi became the first person to receive a patent in the Western world. He is most famous for designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, and for the mathematical technique of linear perspective in art which governed pictorial depictions of space until the late 19th century and influenced the rise of modern science. His accomplishments also include other architectural works, sculpture, mathematics, engineering, and ship design. Most surviving works can be found in Florence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green wall</span> Wall or vertical structure covered by living vegetation and growth substrate

A green wall is a vertical built structure intentionally covered by vegetation. Green walls include a vertically applied growth medium such as soil, substitute substrate, or hydroculture felt; as well as an integrated hydration and fertigation delivery system. They are also referred to as living walls or vertical gardens, and widely associated with the delivery of many beneficial ecosystem services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Walker (landscape architect)</span> American public spaces designer

Peter Walker is an American landscape architect and the founder of PWP Landscape Architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Landscape Institute</span> UK-based professional body

The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. The LI also has a category for academic members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Park, Denver</span> United States historic place

Washington Park is a neighborhood and public urban park in Denver, Colorado. The Washington Park is a blend of historic and contemporary styles of architecture. The park was first developed by Architect Reinhard Schuetze in 1899. Its design was influenced by city planner Kessler, the Olmsted Brothers and philanthropist Margaret "Molly" Brown. The park is popular with both tourists and area residents, with some comparing it to New York City's Central Park. Apart from activities such as walking, biking or volleyball, the park serves as a center for community gatherings, such as the annual Furry Scurry. Wedding receptions are often held in the historic boathouse pavilion. In 2012 the American Planning Association designated the park one of its “Great Public Spaces in America”.

Michael Robert Van Valkenburgh is an American landscape architect and educator. He has worked on a wide variety of projects in the United States, Canada, Korea, and France, including public parks, college campuses, sculpture gardens, city courtyards, corporate landscapes, private gardens, and urban master plans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giovanni Caselli</span> Italian physicist (1815–1891)

Giovanni Caselli was an Italian priest, inventor, and physicist. He studied electricity and magnetism as a child which led to his invention of the pantelegraph, the forerunner of the fax machine. The world's first practical operating facsimile machine ("fax") system put into use was by Caselli. He had worldwide patents on his system. His technology idea was further developed into today's analog television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Blanc</span> French botanist

Patrick Blanc is a French botanist who works at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, where he specializes in plants from tropical forests. He is the modern innovator of the green wall, specifically, he invented the modern vertical hydroponics garden, which distinguishes it from its predecessors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sami Rintala</span> Finnish architect and artist

Sami Rintala is a Finnish architect and artist. He studied architecture at Helsinki University of Technology, completing his studies in 1999. Rintala’s own work is based on narrative and conceptualism. The resulting work is a layered interpretation of the physical, mental and poetic resources of the site.

The Stockade Building System was designed by Richard Buckminster Fuller and his father-in-law, James Monroe Hewlett, and was patented in 1927. Both of them had previously formed a company, in 1922, which made bricks out of compressed wood shavings with vertical holes cast in them.

Horticultural Building Systems are defined as the instance where vegetation and an architectural/architectonic system exist in a mutually defined and intentionally designed relationship that supports plant growth and an architectonic concept. The most common form of these systems in contemporary vernacular is green wall, vertical garden, green roof, roof garden, building-integrated agriculture (BIA), yet the history of these systems may be traced back through greenhouse technology, hydroponicums, horticultural growth chambers, and beyond. These horticultural building systems evolved form a reciprocal relationship between plant cultural requirements and architectural technology.

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign was among the first institutions in the nation to offer an educational program in landscape architecture, with a degree program in place by 1907. It is the only accredited program in the state of Illinois to offer all three landscape degree options, BLA, MLA and Ph.D.

Koichi Kawana was a post-war Japanese American garden designer, landscape architect and teacher. He designed gardens in San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. Some of his major works include the Seiwa-en Japanese Garden in the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and a dry landscape garden at Sawtelle, Los Angeles. He designed the bonsai collection for the Pavilion of Japanese Art at LACMA in the 90s.

Florence Bell Robinson was a prominent American educator in landscape architecture and a pioneer in introducing women into the field.

Juan Bautista Medici was an Italian engineer. He was born in Piedmont Italy in 1843 and died in Buenos Aires in 1903. Three years before his death he was awarded a US patent for construction of navigable channels at the mouth of the Mississippi. Although the patent was never realized, it would have radically reconfigured the delta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunn Gardens</span> United States historic place

Dunn Gardens in Seattle, Washington, is a privately owned 7.5-acre (3.0 ha) property composed of the remaining acreage of the estate of Arthur G. Dunn Sr., who bought the property in 1914 as a summer get-a-way for his family, and contracted the landscaping to the Olmsted Brothers. Upon his death, the property was inherited by his children. His son Edward B. Dunn provided for the care of his share of the estate in his will. A trust was created two years after his death to oversee the entire property. Dunn Gardens were listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 15, 1994, and is open for special public events and docent-led guided tours April through July, and from September through October.

Barbara Vorse Fealy was an American landscape architect. In 1985, Fealy was elected a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, making her the first woman member in Oregon.

Walter Rice, also known as Walter L. Rice (1866–1930), was an American architect, inventor, and engineer. He made a career as an architect in Denver, Colorado, particularly for the design of apartment buildings. Several of his buildings are designated National Register of Historic Places. He patented inventions for automobiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert R. Schaal</span> American landscape architect and educator

Herbert R. Schaal is an American landscape architect, educator, and firm leader notable for the broad range and diversity of his projects, including regional studies, national parks, corporate and university campuses, site planning, botanical gardens, downtowns, highways, cemeteries, and public and private gardens. Schaal is one of the first landscape architects to design children's gardens, beginning in the 1990s with Gateway Elementary, Gateway Middle, and Gateway Michael Elementary school grounds in St. Louis, Missouri, the Hershey Children's Garden at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, and Red Butte Garden and Arboretum.

References

  1. 1 2 Alpert, Natalie; Gary Kesler (2004). "Florence Bell Robinson and Stanley Hart White: Creating a Pioneering School of Landscape Architecture". In Dianne Harris (ed.). No Boundaries: University of Illinois Vignettes. University of Illinois Press. pp.  113–123. ISBN   978-0-252-07203-1.
  2. Hindle, Richard L. (2012-06-01). "A vertical garden: origins of the Vegetation-Bearing Architectonic Structure and System (1938)". Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. 32 (2): 99–110. doi:10.1080/14601176.2011.653535. ISSN   1460-1176. S2CID   56350350.
  3. "Janice Hart White's Obituary on Denver Post". Denver Post. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  4. White, E. B., and Dorothy Lobrano Guth. 1976. Letters of E.B. White. New York: Harper & Row. P 151
  5. US 2113523A
  6. Hindle, Richard L. (2013). "Stanley Hart White and the question of 'What is Modern?'". Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. 33 (3): 170–177. doi:10.1080/14601176.2013.807653. S2CID   162577251.