Legacy in a Landscape Work of iconic firm remains visible in historic campus design
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The approach to Duke University Chapel is an example of the graceful landscape architecture laid out by the Olmsted Brothers’ firm. Photo by University Communications.
ew people can appreciate the drive up to Duke University Chapel like Ron Jones. For 23 years, the bus driver at Duke has piloted the C1 East-West bus, carrying passengers from East Campus to the heart of West Campus around 18 times per shift. Each time, the bus glides down the slight slope of Chapel Drive as glimpses of Sarah P. Duke Gardens appear through trees. Then, the roadway begins an ascent, rising around 30 feet toward campus until the tree-lined corridor gives way to green lawns, sprawling oaks and stone buildings of Abele Quad. “Every time I make that turn, and drive toward the Chapel, it’s breathtaking,” Jones said. “It’s beautiful, even if you see it every day.” Nearly a century after the dramatic approach to West Campus was sketched out by architects from the Olmsted Brothers’ landscape architecture firm, it still creates awe. 10
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“There’s so much elegance to it,” Duke University Landscape Architect Mark Hough said of the gentle fall-and-rise of the Chapel Drive approach. “It’s just enough to give you that sense of arrival. That, to me, is the kind of nuanced design that you sort of take for granted.” When the story of the design of Duke’s campus is told, the Horace Trumbauer architectural firm, which designed Duke’s iconic buildings, is often at the forefront. But quietly, the genius of the Olmsted Brothers’ landscape architecture shines through in peaceful green spaces, graceful roadways and the balance between symmetrical order and rolling woodland. The Olmsted influence gives Duke a shared lineage with some of the country’s most beloved spaces, such as New York’s Central Park and the U.S. Capitol grounds, and showcases how a mix of ambition, artistry and resourcefulness created a campus that, even after decades of growth, remains majestic.
