Field Session

WED-FS-07: Dumbarton Oaks Gardens and Dumbarton Oaks Park

Field Session Leader(s)

• 

  Brian T. Bolen, ASLA, PLA

  Associate Principal
  Parker Rodriguez
  Alexandria, Virginia

  Session Guide
• 

  Lili A. Herrera, ASLA, PLA

  Principal
  Oehme van Sweden
  Washington, District of Columbia

Field Session Presenter(s)

• 

  Thaisa Way, FASLA

  Director, GLS
  Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University
  Washington, District of Columbia
• 

  Lindsey Milstein

  President and Board Co-Chair
  Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy
  Washington, District of Columbia
• 

  Liza Gilbert, ASLA

  Board Co-Chair
  Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy
  Brooklyn, New York
• 

  Jonathan Kavalier

  Director of Gardens and Grounds
  Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection
  Washington, District of Columbia

Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C./ Thaisa Way

Dumbarton Oaks is a significant historic landscape designed by landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. This tour will explore the design with those who contribute to preserving the legacy of both the garden and the park. Come learn landscape history and how two different places, originally designed as one, are being stewarded.

Includes: transportation. Moderate walking.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn about ways that Dumbarton Oaks and Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy are adapting to meet contemporary challenges such as climate change, stormwater management, changing garden hydrology, and adjacent development.
• Learn about how the historic garden operates as a work of art, both as a research institute for a scholarly community and as part of a museum collection.
• Learn about Beatrix Farrand’s design and the inspiration she drew from the land’s topography, soils, and tributaries, as well as the existing gardens and land formations.
• Learn how the park operates in public-private partnership to mobilize volunteers, wide-ranging businesses, and community groups to rejuvenate this work of art to a self-sustaining, ecologically healthy landscape.