The Suburban Prototype: Analyzing the Influence of Natural Landscape in Olmsted’s Plan of Riverside, Illinois
by Eleanor Hutchinson
Just twenty minutes west of downtown Chicago is a village with sinuous streets, nineteenth-century gas lamps, setback houses, and greenspace covering almost half its land area (Enjoy Illinois 2018). The Illinois suburb, Riverside, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1869 to foster an atmosphere of leisure and sociability. After his esteemed work for Central Park, among other parks on the lakefront and Southside of Chicago, Olmsted was commissioned to produce a plan for Riverside, which became one of the first suburban communities planned to totality. Olmsted’s general plan demonstrates how topography can foster community interaction and connection to nature by integrating the natural landscape into the urban fabric, rather than treating it as its antithesis.
Figure 1. Olmsted and Vaux’s General Plan of Riverside, Illinois, produced in 1869. This suburban landscape exemplifies innovative planning methods to create a neighborhood designed for productive community engagement and socialization (Olmstead Network n.d.).
American suburban landscapes developed in the late 1800s, around the same time as the skyscraper—as cities rapidly increased in density, Americans were motivated to sprawl outward, removing themselves from the hectic, fast pace of urban life while remaining nearby to access its amenities. The suburb became the consummate solution for wanting the best of two contradictory lifestyles, one in the city and one in the hinterlands. The pastoral landscape is defined by lush, open fields of grasslands and drylands, idealizing an undamaged countryside. This view of the natural world provided rationale for designing suburban spaces as “an effective remedy for the sensory and other deprivations…of life in the industrial city” (Marx 1991, 72). Movement to the suburbs reflected a profound yearning for balance and the desire to experience the repose of nature without fully isolating oneself in the countryside.
Olmsted designed Riverside as the prototype of America— an exemplar for subsequent suburban development across the country. He believed the successful suburb represented “a ‘marriage’ of town and country” and should foster a community that has personal connections to the environment (Marx 1991, 73). His design philosophy aligned with Thomas Jefferson, whose rationalist approach to landscape gardening and famous “middle landscape” defined the image of early American colonization and democracy (Tessyot 1999, 13). These beliefs found resonance in other developing designs, like Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City (Howard 1898). Olmsted’s commitment to these ideals is evident in the socially ambient and cohesive qualities of the village’s organic topography— characterized by its large residential lots, public commons, a riverbank area, triangular islands dispersed between concentrated housing plots, and curvilinear roadways—each component ideal for inducing social gatherings and interaction.
Figure 2. Listed in numerical order: expansive riverfront, triangular islands, commons, curvilinear roadways (Riverside Village n.d.).
In contrast to Central Park, Riverside's design incorporated residential areas interwoven with expansive greenspace, allowing the organic character of the countryside to shape the layout and creating a seamless immersion in the unbuilt natural environment. Olmsted centered the neighborhood around the river, eschewed linear constructions, and lined residential plots with trees. A.J. Downing, considered to be a founder of American landscape architecture, emphasized the necessity of a “common lawn area” in suburban villages as the “heart of the village.” (Tessyot 1999, 12). Olmsted incorporated this into his plan to evoke the image of medieval European commons, in addition to the systems of community they established (Tessyot 1999, 13). The commons included pastures, woodlands, and arable lands that were accessible to and managed by the community. In the suburban environment, taking care of the shared street and common lawn would occur primarily through the maintenance of individual land. In sharing “ownership” of Riverside’s quasi-rural green spaces, the community of Riverside would also share space for “informal parks and playgrounds as well as areas for…other recreational activities,” which would further connect its residents (National Park Service 2024).
Despite an emphasis on sharing resources to some degree, the ‘individual’ remained an important component to Olmsted’s design, specifically, as he sought to enhance one’s connection to nature. Public commons in combination with privacy uphold the political ideas that founded American society, such as personal autonomy and the republic. Downing associated the “common lawn” with republicanism as it was “governed” by the community it served, yet retained an emphasis on individual liberties (Tessyot 1999, 12). Olmsted valued homeowners' privacy and demonstrated this by arranging vegetation to filter sight between backyards and create a “figuratively transparent” fence (Tessyot 1999, 16). The intricate network of streets further directed movement between “private and public ground,” guiding travelers around homes and through the commons in picturesque fashion (Tessyot 1999, 16). These conjunctions of private and communal lands distinguished the suburb as a place of “habitation and domesticity,” different from a public park (Tessyot 1999, 17).
The general plan of Riverside stands as a testament to Olmsted's visionary approach to suburban design, embodying the blend of urban convenience and pastoral tranquility. By prioritizing natural landscapes and communal spaces, Olmsted’s rendering communicates an environment that fosters both individual privacy and a sense of community, and it reflects the ideals of American democracy. The village’s intricate layout promotes social interaction and invites residents to connect with the natural world, reinforcing the belief that well-designed spaces can enhance the quality of life. As a standard for future suburban developments, Riverside illustrates how thoughtful planning and interconnected urban fabric can cultivate personal well-being and shared sense of community among its inhabitants, ultimately serving as a reminder of the enduring value of balance between town and country in the American landscape.
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Bibliography
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