The Rural Landscapes of Frank Waugh

Abstract

While Frank Waugh’s contributions to landscape architecture are acknowledged today, they are vaguely understood. Though he is broadly associated with his contemporaries on the East Coast such as F. L. Olmsted, Jr. and Warren Manning, or with the Prairie Landscape Architects in the mid-West, he differs from both groups. Waugh may best be identified by his strong preoccupation with small rural towns, villages and farms, the subject of a lifetime of teaching and publication. This paper argues that Waugh not only provided a vision for rural survival during his own time, but also anticipated the concerns of today’s planners and designers seeking to preserve the country’s rural areas.