"PASSING-THROUGH" PARKS 



for the eye during the middle of the day when the passers there retard 

 their pace to some extent. Even the most meagre of park treatment 

 will seem like a green oasis in the midst of city buildings, and in- 

 cidentally offer agreeable contrast and attractive setting for the 

 abutting architecture. 



TYPE OF DESIGN RECOMMENDED 



The design of such parks would better be very formal and regular, 

 being thereby more in accordance with the preponderance of archi- 

 tectural forms surrounding them. There should be avoided, how- 

 ever, undue recognition of any especial one of the abutting buildings, 

 lest the area become transformed into foreground or forecourt to 

 the building, and its character as a park be lost. The lines of the plan 

 should be kept very restrained, the ensemble such as may be com- 

 prehended at a glance, that being the approximate attention it may 

 expect to receive. Intricate designs will confuse the eye without 

 carrying conviction. 



In Italian parks of this sort, frequently the entire areas are dis- 

 posed in gravel to facilitate circulation in any direction, the design 

 being completed by a formal furnishing of trees and seats with 

 statue or fountain at the centre. Such an arrangement reads clearly 

 and serves its civic purpose admirably. In America, however, it 

 would probably be considered too bald a treatment. The French 

 idea of extensive open plazas puts too much " air " into the plan, as 

 an architect would express it, and tends to eliminate too great 

 proportion of park area. 



The design of passing-through parks should aim for maximum 

 accommodation by means of walks and gravel spaces without losing, 

 however, their identity as parks. Direct cross lines, well-propor- 

 tioned spaces and auxiliary ornamentation is the order of design 

 recommended. 



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