PRINCIPLES OF PARK DESIGN 



SINCERITY OF PLAN 



The first principle affecting both beauty and utihty in the design 

 of a park is that of sincerity of plan. By this is meant that the plan 

 of a park should first of all meet every demand of convenience, amplj- 

 accommodating such number of people as may use it, never allowing 

 artistic considerations to outweigh practical necessities. Secondly, it 

 should perform this function in a frank, straight-forward way, never 

 concealing its purpose or evading the issue by a confusion of design. 

 The design should be the outgrowth of governing physical conditions, 

 a meeting of the requirements of contour and ground formation. 

 Rarely does good design require extravagant changing in earthwork. 

 Difficult and expensive engineering problems are often the result of 

 an inflexible predetermined design, conceived by the artist without 

 proper study of existing grade conditions. Also, a plan should never 

 be prepared from the standpoint of immediate display which will per- 

 chance win plaudits in the initial stages of its execution, but will betray 

 the ultimate best interests of the community. Sincerity of plan may 

 be judged by ease of use, relative expense of execution, and beauty of 

 permanent display. A sincere plan will satisfy all these tests: an 

 insincere plan will be found wanting in some one of the three for which 

 superlativeness in the other two cannot be substituted. 



STRENGTH OF PLAN 



The second principle of park design is strength of plan. A park 

 design should not only express its purpose, but do so in such a positive 

 way that the message shall carry. There should be no doubt in the 

 observer's mind that the plan was prepared with a definiteness of aim : 

 if it be a formal design, that there was a reason for its being formal ; 

 if simulating rural scenery, that such type of scenery was considered 

 pertinent in that place ; if specially enriched or ornate, that the design 

 demanded such lavishness. A park design should appear so decisive 



62 



