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Harriet Pattison Oral History

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The life, career, and design philosophy of Philadelphia-based landscape architect Harriet Pattison is the subject of the thirteenth oral history in the award-winning Pioneers of American Landscape Design^® Oral History Project series.

In a career spanning more than 50 years, Pattison worked with leading 20th-century practitioners, including noted Modernist architect Louis Kahn and landscape architect George Patton, with whom she collaborated on the design for the iconic Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Pattison also worked on Kahn’s posthumously realized commission, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island, New York, which opened in 2012. Her oeuvre ranges from residential gardens and public housing, to the 150-acre Hershey Company campus. Pattison is the third woman documented by the series. Her work in post-World War II American cities, in a profession traditionally dominated by men, is an indispensable and inspiring chapter in the history of landscape architecture.

Oral History Framework

Video clips are divided into three categories: BIOGRAPHY, DESIGN, and PROJECTS

Each clip is between 1 and 4 minutes long.

Interview: Harriet Pattison was interviewed by Charles A. Birnbaum in the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in June 2015.

Harriet Pattison Oral History Transcript

Reflections: Harriet Pattison has been a practitioner in the United States for more than fifty years. The Cultural Landscape Foundation contacted her colleagues and professional associates to share their stories and memories.

Harriet Pattison Reflections

YouTube Clip Listing by Category


BIOGRAPHY 1. Growing up in Chicago A highlight of Pattison’s early childhood was a visit to the 1933-34 Century of Progress International Exposition with her father. 2. Francis Parker School The idea of community involvement was nurtured by the Parker School’s “Toy Shop,” when the students and teachers repaired old toys that were eventually given to children for Christmas at Hull-House, a local social settlement in Chicago. 3. Early Experiences of Landscape As a child, Pattison discovered a variety of landscapes through the rich and memorable contrast between what she termed the “confined” nature in the city and the dramatic landscape of New England. 4. Camden Amphitheater A “memorable place from childhood on” is Fletcher Steele’s pioneering work of Modernism, the amphitheater overlooking the harbor in Camden, Maine. 5. Wellesley and the University of Chicago For Pattison, Wellesley had a “great campus,” but was “not an inspiring place.” She quit and went to the University of Chicago where she found “freedom,” “fascinating professors” and befriended Second City theater actors. 6. Acting at Yale Although Pattison attended Yale for theater design, she was soon cast in a leading role in a play. She “loved comedy” and found her classmate Paul Newman to be a “jolly, good man.” After two years she enrolled in Josef Albers color-theory course at the art school. 7. Meeting Louis Kahn Pattison recalls her first, fateful meeting with Modernist architect Louis Kahn on a snow-covered street at Yale. 8. Europe While traveling through Europe, Pattison by chance attends the coronation of England’s Queen Elizabeth II. 9. Working in Dan Kiley’s Office After the birth of Pattison and Louis Kahn’s son, Nathaniel, Kahn arranges a job for Pattison in Vermont with Modernist landscape architect Dan Kiley. 10. The University of Pennsylvania Enrolling at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Pattison meets influential practitioners: Ian McHarg, Sir Peter Shepheard, M. Paul Friedberg, and Roberto Burle-Marx. 11. Working for George Patton Following graduate school, Pattison begins her professional career in the Philadelphia office of landscape architect George Patton. 12. Louis Kahn’s Office There were no standard working hours at architect Kahn’s office; it was a place of “energy, enthusiasm and humor” day and night. 13. Private Practice After the untimely death of Kahn, her professional partner and the father of her son, Pattison opened her own practice in Philadelphia.		DESIGN 1. Alhambra Pattison finds the Spanish town of Granada to be the “most romantic place in the world.” At the Alhambra, the “first great garden [she] had encountered,” she’s fascinated by the “constant play of water” and smells jasmine for the first time. 2. Artists and Heroes Early women practitioners, including Pattison’s idol Beatrix Farrand, were “artists.” She bemoans their obscurity blaming Ian McHarg, at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Landscape Architecture, for minimizing the role of artistry in landscape design. 3. Companion for Louis Kahn’s Thoughts Pattison “shared a sensibility” with Kahn, “which was uncanny.” They shared a “love of art, history and even words.” 4. Our Common Heritage Pattison discusses the vulnerability of landscapes, citing the destruction of ancient sites in Syria by ISIS. 5. A Three Day Journey to Maine The climate, art, gardens, and native materials that Pattison encountered during childhood summers spent in Maine shaped her ideas and sensibilities about landscape architecture. 6. Great Satisfactions in Landscapes Pattison says visiting great landscapes like France’s iconic Vaux-le-Vicomte is as exhilarating as climbing mountains in Maine. 7. Louis Kahn Pattison discusses how Kahn’s ideas and design process uniquely influenced her own practice. 8. What the Site Can Tell Me The landscape is the primary source of inspiration at the outset of any new project, then Pattison considers the client’s wishes. 9. Value of the Artist In recognizing the contributions of landscape architects/artists Beatrix Farrand, Carol Johnson and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Pattison, who describes herself as a “rebel”, says art and artists need to be encouraged. 10. The Piano Pavilion Pattison comments on the impact of the Renzo Piano-designed Pavilion on the Kimbell Art Museum landscape she designed with George Patton in Fort Worth, Texas. 11. Recognition, at Last The opening of Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park brings Pattison professional recognition, a personal sense of peace and fulfillment – and a memorable meeting with former President Bill Clinton.		PROJECTS 1. The Kimbell Art Museum Working with George Patton, Pattison designs the landscape for Louis Kahn’s museum masterpiece in Fort Worth, TX. 2. Korman House In this final residential commission with Louis Kahn, Pattison creates a forested landscape outside of Philadelphia from which the residence is slowly revealed. 3. Walsh Residence At this Philadelphia garden, the client gave Pattison free reign to design and build what she wished – in this case, a folly. 4. Cecil B. Moore Plaza Temple University needed a new entrance to connect the school with the subway and the wider city of Philadelphia. 5. Abbottsford Homes Pattison gave new life to this regimented World War II worker housing, creating a new community knit together with a variety of green spaces from personal to shared in Philadelphia. 6. Hershey Food Corporation Headquarters Pattison reflects on her largest commission, the design for the famed chocolate company’s 125-acre campus overlooking the town of Hershey, PA. 7. Gravagno Residence Pattison provides a look at a late, significant extant residential project outside of Philadelphia. 8. Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park Realized almost 40 years after the untimely death of Louis Kahn, Pattison discusses her pivotal role in the design of the monument located on Roosevelt Island in New York City.

Production Credits and Acknowledgments

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

INTERVIEWER

Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR

PROJECT MANAGER

Additional Camera

Editor / Animation

Barrett Doherty, ASLA

PRINT EDITOR

Scott Craver

DIRECTOR

Gina Angelone, SA KWA Pictures

Cinematographer

James Callanan

COMPOSER

Brian Cho

The Cultural Landscape Foundation would like to thank the many people who contributed to making the Harriet Pattison Oral History a reality.

A project such as this comes to life through the efforts of many individuals and organizations. Thank you to Harriet Pattison and Nathaniel Kahn for making time in their schedules for the June and July 2015 interviews and location shoots. Nathaniel Kahn also generously provided footage from his movie, My Architect. A very special thanks goes to Bill Whitaker for providing insight, guidance, and generous access to the drawings from the Kahn, Patton, Pattison, and Venturi, Scott Brown Collections, as well as allowing us to film in the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania. Carole Gravagno allowed us to film at her beautiful garden. Larry Korman was extremely generous with his property and the visual materials on his website. Joseph Karr shared his personal photos of Dan Kiley’s office, and Aaron Kiley, through family photographs and video footage, opened a unique perspective into Dan Kiley’s office and personality. Suzy Brown, Madeline Grimes, and their staff allowed us to film at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park and shared extensive images and ephemera of the day the site was dedicated. Brenda Danilowitz and her staff at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation supported us through their generosity of materials. The Hershey Company and, in particular, Jeff Beckman provided permission to film at their corporate headquarters. Andy Kaplan of the Francis Parker School shared excellent images of “Toy Shop” and other school activities. Patricia O’Donnell shared historic images of the Camden Amphitheater. Judith Tankard pointed me in the right direction with newspaper clippings and Richard Bumstead helped me source images from the University of Chicago. Thanks, also, to the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey and to Wikimedia Commons, which proved invaluable in illustrating this oral history. With thoughtful foresight, Mark Gunderson filmed the Kimbell Art Museum grounds immediately before the construction of the Piano Pavilion and made those clips available. We are especially grateful to the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), our Annual Sponsor, for the entire oral history series.

There were many generous funders for this oral history, including the National Endowment for the Arts, Hubbard Educational Trust, Nathaniel Kahn, and Leslie Rose Close.

Photographs, prints, and drawings reproduced courtesy of the following individuals and institutions:

Bain News Service; David Basanta; Benggriff; Charles A. Birnbaum; Marco Bonavoglia; Diane Bondareff, Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park; Camden Library Archives; Centpacrr; J. Crocker; Daderot; Dmharvey; Barrett Doherty; Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANEFO), 1945-1989; Matthew Field; Bernard Gagnon; Goldnpuppy; Mihael Grmek; Mark Gunderson; Jared and Corin; Joseph Karr; Aaron Kiley; Kimbell Art Museum Collection; Er Komandante; Courtesy of Larry Korman; Werner Lang; Oscar liberal; Fernando Martín; Taís Melillo; Halley Pacheco de Oliveira; courtesy of Harriet Pattison; Harriet Pattison; Peachoftree; John Phelan; Rdsmith4; Reguera; Sdantzer; Slaunger; Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore; Kim Traynor; Underwood/Library of Congress; Paul Warchol; and the Wharton Esherick Museum.

University and Museum Archives:

Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania

Louis I. Kahn Collection, University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission housed in the Harvey and Irwin Kroiz Gallery, resources of the Kahn Collection are used with the permission of the Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania.

George E. Patton Collection

Harriet Pattison Collection

Venturi, Scott Brown Collection

Archives of American Gardens

Garden Club of America Collection,

                  [Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden] [lantern slide]: walkway through stone sculptures. ME043002

                  [Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden] [lantern slide]: main flower garden. ME043004

                  [Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden] [lantern slide]: flower beds with paths. ME043005

                  Hamilton House [lantern slide] ME022007

                  Parsons Garden [lantern slide] ME027001

                  Parsons Garden [lantern slide] ME027002

Garden Club of America Collection, Keewaydin,

[Keewaydin] [lantern slide]: garden vista ME045001

Francis Parker School Archives

3rdgrade

BuildingOurHouseGP42

DollHouse

Dolls

Fencing

Joanofarc

Maypole

PaintingToys

Printshop2GP16

RepairingMetalToys

toyshop1st

ToyShopScrip018

ToyShopTimeCard017

Josef and Anni Albers Foundation

01_StudentWork_1976-35-075

11_StudentWork_1976-35-011

12_StudentWork_1976-35-061

1976-28-317-01

cohen_albers_teaching_SDHi

Interaction of color cover 5_0001

New Haven Museum

West Side of Church Street, Between Center and Chapel, New Haven

Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

apf1-05033

apf1-07159

apf2-00503

apf2-01745

apf2-02610r

apf2-05023

apf2-05031

apf2-06530

apf2-07578

University Archives and Records Center, University of Pennsylvania

UPF 8.5 News Bureau: Biographical Files, Fogg, John M. Jr, undated

Harriet Pattison Oral History

The life, career, and design philosophy of Philadelphia-based landscape architect Harriet Pattison is the subject of the thirteenth oral history in the award-winning Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Project series.

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The life, career, and design philosophy of Philadelphia-based landscape architect Harriet Pattison is the subject of the thirteenth oral history in the award-winning Pioneers of American Landscape Design^® Oral History Project series.