Rustic Arbor - Prospect Park

Rustic structures - shelters, arbors and bridges - were an integral part of Olmsted and Vaux’s original design for Prospect Park. The Lullwater shelter is a one hundred foot long arbor that was reconstructed in 2002.

Cleft-Ridge Span - Prospect Park

Olmsted and Vaux designed numerous paths and trails for both horses and pedestrians, requiring the construction of many small-scale bridges. The Cleft-Ridge Span is the first concrete arch bridge in the United States. It contains no iron or steel reinforcing and is an example of precast artificial stone construction.

The span is only 20 feet in length but has a width of more than 60 feet; more like a tunnel than a bridge. The detailed gothic and classical ornamentation cast into the surface of the artificial stone is clearly visible. Precast artificial stone served as an important precedent for the later use of concrete as a vehicle for ornamentation.

Binnen Falls - Prospect Park

The rushing stream from the Ambergill, slows after passing beneath the Nethermead Arches to become the meandering Binnen-water (Binnen, Dutch for within, is an Olmsted reference to the areas remoteness.) The Binnenwater flows into the Lily Pond, just beyond the bridge before tumbling over Binnen Falls and into the Lullwater.
- The complete Guide to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens

Boathouse finished?

Trying to decide whether to crop this painting

Uncropped - the left side is somewhat boring and the composition seems off. Not particularly happy with the blob of reflected green in the water on the left.



Portrait cropped - creates a better focus on the boathouse



Square cropped - emphasizes the symmetry of the reflection

Boathouse day 4

Boathouse day 2