The Rustic Landscape of Rim Village, 1927-1941
Recommendations
Introduction
RECOMMENDATIONS
The following recommendations are based on an analysis and evaluation of historic landscape features and resources at Rim Village. The purpose of the recommendations is to provide guidance for the reestablishment of significant historic features and, to the degree possible, the general ambiance and character of the 1930s Rustic design. The recommendations do not target restoration of the historic landscape to any given year, nor do they cover every individual feature. Rather, the goal is to identify what features should be reestablished, or rehabilitated and/or reconstructed, and suggest ways in which new site elements sympathetic to the historic landscape can be incorporated into the redevelopment package for Rim Village.
Five topical areas are discussed following the format established in the typology, and include recommendations for Circulation, Vegetation, Structures, Small-scale Features, and Construction Technologies. Each set of recommendations includes a series of historic design principles. These principles are based on philosophies set forth in Albert Good’s Park and Recreation Structures from 1938. They are general in nature and outline a direction for development that ensures a continuity between new design and historic design, both in material and function. Individual recommendations are organized in priority to address: stabilization and preservation of significant landscape resources; enhancement and/or treatment of remnant or ill-define historic fabric; and appropriate replacement or adaptive use of non-extant historic landscape features and patterns.
The goal of the recommendations is to provide a framework for the redevelopment of the rim landscape. While many of the specifics contained within the redevelopment program are undefined, the recommendations establish a design context for the landscape, and provide an appropriate vocabulary or “palette” for new design. In most cases, alternative treatments are suggested when the optimum preservation solution cannot be accommodated, and in cases where individual features are not addressed (garbage cans, site furniture, etc.), Good’s Park and Recreation Structures should be used as a basis for new design features.
Although beyond the scope of these recommendations, a comprehensive Historic Landscape Preservation Guide should be prepared for Rim Village to ensure proper maintenance of the designed historic landscape. In addition to guidelines and specifications for the maintenance of individual plant materials, walkways, walls, and other site features, this document should define the philosophy and specific techniques for maintaining the Rustic style landscape. Historically, Rim Village received a high degree of maintenance, and a considerable amount of time went into controlling the overall appearance of the landscape. Plant materials were maintained and pruned to appear “natural” without appearing overgrown or neglected. Maintenance guidelines should reflect this design intent.
And, finally, as site work for the redevelopment progresses, additional assessments and evaluations of individual historic features (such as plant materials and rock walls) should be undertaken by the appropriate professionals to ensure that proposed treatments are appropriate and that historic fabric is not indiscriminately lost. Additional surveys and fieldwork may be necessary for specific evaluations in order to determine the appropriate treatment or the documents required for the more discrete areas of Rim Village.
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