Brooklyn’s city of the dead, Green Wood Cemetery, is also grand public park where many go not just to mourn the dead but also to enjoy the natural landscape. This cemetery was established in 1838 by urban planner Henry Evelyn Pierrport. David Douglass was the designer of the cemetery. It is important to note the development of the landscape architect profession, here the design of a park was done by an engineer. It was during this era that picturesque parks and gardens began to be introduced into the public sphere. The picturesque of this location was carefully created by Douglass who used the lands natural moraine driven hills, valleys, and ponds long with the integration of sinuous pathways and trees. This project was one of Douglass’s most …show more content…
If you want to fully appreciate the cite you must enter from the main gate, which is a tall beautiful gothic revival gate. At the entrance you will be greeted by the chapel, crematory, mausoleum, and gardens. The pathways are curvilinear with few straight pathways. This allows you to take whichever path through the cemetery. There is some sense of sequence because of the hierarchy of the path’s sizes. As you walk through the cemetery on the curved paths you encounter various visual changes created by the trees, graves, ponds, and landscape. Walking through Green Wood Cemetery is a relaxing experience that offers many visual sensations. This cemetery became not only a prestigious place to be buried but also an important site for people to go for picnics, strolling, ride carriages, and to meditate. Green Wood Cemetery became a place that was an escape from the dangerous industrial cities, a place to be with the calming and tranquil nature. The introduction of this cemetery to the urban public provided Americans of all classes a picturesque landscape where they could experience the emotional, the sentimental, and grow cultural sensitivity