Olmsted Elm - Old, Porphyry Older
Posted by Roger Murphy on Fri, Sep 09, 2011 @ 11:54 AM
Porphyry Stone Pavers
The Olmsted Elm and the Porphyry paver path are both essential elements of landscape design - the dynamic and the static, the changing and the permanent.
We note with sadness, the passing of one of America’s iconic trees, a super star American Elm. The National Park Service announced recently the end of a 200 year old American Elm in Brookline, Massachusetts at the studio home of Frederick Law Olmsted. With that news, it calls to mind the differences in the elements of the landscape. A porphyry paver stone path comes to the job-site already somewhere around 260 million years old.
Porphyry is inert and static and will not decay. Its life span is enormous, and it can be recycled and reclaimed and re purposed. There is no crumbling or spalling from freeze/ thaw, there will not be stains from grease or chemicals. There will be no degradation in the non-slip/non skid surface or the Porphyry. The elements of the softscape are dynamic - living, growing, many of them changing character and color with the seasons. Many of these will be pruned and shaped as they grow and mature. They will be fed and cared for and rid of pests from time to time.
What is the value of these elements? Are they separately valued or is one exalted in the context of the other? We honor stately plants and trees that have witnessed years and even centuries of passersby. We revere the permanence of the paths, walkways and roads that have been paved with historic stones like Porphyry.
Photo courtesy of the National Park Service.
A Familiar Piece of History
This American elm (Ulmus americana) was on the landscape when Frederick Law Olmsted bought this property he called “Fairsted” in 1883, moving his family and landscape architecture business to 99 Warren Street, Brookline. While Olmsted and his stepson John C. Olmsted removed other trees from the estate, they kept this particular tree as an important feature of the pastoral landscape they created in the southern portion of the then-two-acre property.
We don't know if Olmsted used porphyry. It was likely not available to him because it is not quarried in the United States and at the time, importation of porphyr was not what is is today. Copper Mountain is now quarried in Mexico and Patagonia Sierra in Argentina and truckload/container load quantities are reasonably quick to ship and are available. Much of Olmsted's landscape legacy is architectural rather than horticultural. To distinguish these elements from plantings, modern day landscape architects coined the term "hardscape." An example is Olmsted's east front plaza of the Capitol.
We do know one thing however,
He loved Paths and Walkways
The shortest distance between two points in a landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted—grandfather of landscape architecture and designer of Central Park—is not a straight line. Olmsted's goal with his parks was to get you lost, leading you effortlessly along a system of curvilinear paths, which are divided by their uses and rarely intersect. The result, when you're on a walk in the park, is tranquilizing. There are no right angles, no moments at which you have to stop and ask yourself, "Which way?" Instead, you're allowed to feel completely immersed in nature.
Porphyry's composition determines its high compression strength, resistance to stains, slip resistance, and high freeze/thaw ratings. The stone is the most popular paver in Europe, and is favored for its flexibility in design, beauty, durability and low maintenance requirements. The stone is by far one of the most durable pavers in the world. Porphyry products are available in North America from Milestone Imports - www.milestoneimports.com
