4.)o PARK AND CEMETERY. 
BEAUTY and FITNESS in PARK CONCRETE WORK 
May we not call this the beginning 
of the concrete age, and say who can 
determine the possibilities of the fu- 
ture in this wonderful composition? 
No other building material has such 
a broad scope of usefulness as con- 
crete. Its usefulness is almost un- 
limited, andjn this lies the danger of 
over-doing. 
Starting with foundation work, and 
finishing with sculpture or plastic 
work, with an endless variety of 
forms between the two extremes, it 
seems that almost anything pertain- 
ing to building or plastic work could 
be made out of concrete. That abuses 
in the use of material of such great 
usefulness are likely to exist must be 
evident, and especiall}' where its adap- 
tability for various building construc- 
tion is as great as it is in park work. 
Life itself is based on truth. Imi- 
tations are lies. The philosophy of 
art is truth, and park building be- 
longs to one of the fine arts. Right 
here we draw the line. Concrete 
work must be real, or represent 
something real instead of imitate, and 
imitations will fail just as sure as a 
lie will not stand in the light of 
truth. Therefore, concrete construc- 
tion work should be of such charac- 
ter as to represent concrete, and not 
stone, marble or bronze, and has its 
right place in park work. If it has 
been toned down on account cf color- 
ing it must be for the sake of that 
particular color harmonious to its 
surroundings, and not because it 
{Paper by Jens Jensen, Supt. West Park 
System, Chicago, read at recent 
comeniion of Park Super- 
intendents.) 
should represent stone of various 
kinds, and if its surface is sand fin- 
ish, pebble finish or bush hammered, 
it must be done because that finish is 
adapted to the design of the building, 
bridge or foundation, and not be- 
cause it should represent some other 
material, whether stone or marble. 
As long as we understand this thor- 
oughly we will- be right in the matter 
of concrete construction, and con- 
crete work will always have its place 
in park construction work. 
How absurd it is to build a rustic 
bridge out of . concrete representing 
branches or trunks of trees, when the 
only real way ,to build a beautiful 
rustic bridge is out of wood. Such 
practice is kindergarten work, and 
leaves a false impression upon the un- 
educated mind. 
.Another matter of importance in 
connection with concrete work in our 
parks is its color. We must remem- 
ber that we, or at least most of us, 
are situated in a part of the Western 
Hemisphere where one-half of the 
season is winter, when vegetation is 
stripped of its verdure. And still 
more must those of us that are situ- 
ated in or close to large cities, or 
manufacturing centers, where soft 
coal smoke prevents the growing of 
evergreens or coniferous trees. 
strive not to add to, but to reduce 
the bleakness of winter days in our 
parks. Gray is a cold color, and lends 
the bleakness of winter to the land- 
scape, and an over-production of gray 
is detrimental because we need 
warmth in our winter landscape. 
The Mannheim Exhibition of Gar- 
den Art held last year plainly showed 
this fact, and we must admire it 
whether we agree in design or not. 
It indicates the wonderful strides 
made by Germany in garden art dur- 
ing this period of empire building. 
Their tendency recently, which is per- 
.haps partly influenced by the Em- 
peror, is towards the Romanesque. 
That the Emperor should be in- 
fluenced towards this ancient art is 
reasonable, but that they should re- 
produce, or imitate Roman gardens 
built for a people of different habits, 
different customs, and under differ- 
ent climatic conditions, shows the 
short-comings on the part of the 
Germans. Roman Gardens are bene- 
fited by a luxuriant growth of green 
during the entire year, and are use- 
ful at all times. Our Gardens are 
useful only during a few summer 
months, and with the introduction of 
gray forms, bleakness and coldness 
is added to them during the winter 
months. 
We must remember at all times 
that whatever we do must be fit for 
a special place where construction 
has to be done. It must be applicable 
to its surroundings, and applicable to 
THREE TYPES OF CONCRETE BENCH USED IN WEST PARK SYSTEM, CHICAGO. 
