Photo | Alex MacLean
lakefront terrain , embracing a “ wilderness idea ” of their own making , never interceding on the rolling topography and thick forests unless doing so would enhance the beauty of the land . The Durants were not , at first , making a campus . Their Wellesley land offered a retreat from Boston , but after the loss of both of their children Mr . Durant quit his law practice and the two immersed themselves in charitable work , moving to New York City and eventually returning to Wellesley to find a fitting use for the property . An orphanage and a boy ’ s school were considered but put aside in favor of starting the Wellesley Female Seminary ( later , College ) to give women a first-rate liberal higher education that was already an entitlement for men .
Developing the minds of young women was at the core of the school , but the Durants believed that going outdoors was essential for women ’ s personal and spiritual growth , physical health , and an opportunity for community building through events and ceremonies . Working with the land was a radical approach at a time when most campus plans imposed uniform orthogonal arrangements and flattened topography , borrowed from a Beaux-Arts design tradition that valued abstract systems of order over natural irregularities .
The 1998 Campus Master Plan
MVVA ’ s work at Wellesley College began with the college ’ s commissioning of the 1998 Campus Master Plan to address alumnae concerns about the eroding experience and worn-down character of the campus landscape . The campus they loved was a product of the 1921 Campus Master Plan by Arthur Shurtleff , Ralph Adams Cram , and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr .. It embraced and added to Olmsted ’ s earlier ideas , brilliantly guiding the development of much of the campus . However , the 1921 plan could not have anticipated negative impacts that mid to late 20th century development pressures would have on the campus . The student population grew substantially , more buildings were erected , car culture brought roads and parking lots , utility infrastructure was needed , an increased interest in field sports resulted in flattening of topography , and design and maintenance decisions were frequently misaligned with the original vision .
The group of designers , administrators , staff , and students who contributed to MVVA ’ s plan sought to reaffirm the 1921 principles of a campus organized by its relationship to the glaciated topographic
Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
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