Thomas Chalmers Vint
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Thomas Chalmers Vint (1894–1967) was a landscape architect credited for directing and shaping landscape planning and development during the early years of the United States National Park System. His work at Yosemite National Park and the development of the Mission 66 program are among his better known projects, although his influence can be seen in parks nationwide. Vint's true talents lay in his design elements. These can best be described as rustic, relating to how he was able to harmonize structures with their natural surroundings.
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[edit] Early life
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Scots-Irish parents, Vint's family soon moved to Los Angeles where he spent his grade school years. Vint attended Polytechnic High School and upon graduation enrolled at the University of California-Berkley into the field of landscape architecture. During his college years Vint worked for design and building firms throughout Los Angeles. He also found employment for an entire year alongside the successful landscape architect Lloyd Wright, the son of the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
[edit] Role in the National Park System
By November 1922, Vint was employed as a draftsman for the architect Daniel Ray Hull. Hull was the National Park System's chief landscape engineer for Yosemite National Park, a project which Vint soon became familiar with. One year later, in 1923, Vint rose to the position of assistant landscape engineer for the National Park System, working alongside architects Gilbert Stanley Underwood and Herbert Maier. Vint became an associate landscape engineer in 1926, and the following year he was promoted to the position of chief landscape architect for the Yosemite project, outranking Hull. In 1933 Vint moved to Washington to become the chief of the Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs, as position that was enormously influential in the planing, construction and conservation of the national parks.[1] Vint was particularly active in the formulation and administration of design standards associated with the Park Service's Mission 66 program. Vint continued to be the foremost authority on architecture and landscape architecture for the National Park Service until retiring during the 1960s.
[edit] Design style
At a time when park designers were focusing inward to plan appropriate park infrastructure, Vint masterfully dealt with the new influx of people spawned by the ever-growing automobile age. More people headed to parks now, and facilities were becoming overwhelmed. Vint did not see this as a negative affect. He knew that the presence of people in the park would help with the park service's expansion and ultimately preservation, so long as structures harmonized with their environment. To solve these problems Vint knew it was important to understand the land well and how people would use this land, whether by themselves or in the presence of others. The need for new construction was evident, though Vint knew it would be important to not let new structures detract from the beauty of the nature in the park. His experimentation with using native materials such as logs and stone to construct buildings and bridges helped to naturalize the park environment. This design philosophy can be found in the plans of an earlier landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, whose work in places such as New York's Central Park clearly influenced Vint's designs.
As Vint rose in the Park Service hierarchy, Vint quickly became influential in park planning processes. In particular, Vint in 1931 formulated the first master plan for any Park Service unit, at Mount Rainier National Park, which would be established as a basic planning principle from that point on for every park. One of the principles established in this study was the specific designation of certain park areas as wilderness.[2]
[edit] Legacy
During his time as chief landscape architect for the National Park Service, Vint managed to expand the landscape program of the park service into an efficient system with a foundation in the idea of natural designs and landscape preservation. He successfully created environments meeting the park service requirements of being accessible to the public while at the same time preserving the sites the way they are for future generations to enjoy. Through his rustic designs, Thomas Vint managed to produce environments that were not a mix of buildings and trees, but rather fluid landscapes that emphasized the beauty of their surroundings.
[edit] Notable projects
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- Colonial National Historical Park
- Oregon Caves National Monument
- Historic American Building Survey
- Longmire
- Mission 66
- Yosemite
[edit] References
- Carr, Ethan (2007). Mission 66:Modernism and the National Park Dilemma. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 1-55849-587-8.
- Carr, Ethan (1998). Wilderness by Design: Landscape Architecture & the National Park Service. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-6383-X.
- Longmire Administration Building, Community House, and Service Station
- People, Places, and Parks
- Thomas Vint
- Thomas Chalmers Vint
- The “Noblest Landscape Problem”: Thomas C. Vint and Landscape/Historic Preservation
