The final two stops of our Washington D.C. trip were very inspiring to me as a

Landscape Architect.  The first was the gardens of the Federal Reserve.  These gardens

were first designed by Oehme van Sweden as their first commecial commission, and from

there, OVS has laid the ground work in commercial Landscape Architecture for the "New American

Garden" style.  The site was redesigned last year by OvS, and did not fail to deliver on my curiousity

to see the premier new american gardeners.  Notice the use of perennials and grasses through the site

Just beautiful.  The final stop on the D.C. tour was the FDR Memorial, and is the

only memorial designed by a landscape architect.  It is not directly on the mall, but between

the Lincoln Memorial, and the Jefferson Memorial.  The beauty of this memorial is that

it is not the stagnant approach to honoring the person, but a living memorial to FDR.

The memorial is comprised of four rooms that are a interpretation of FDR's four terms as

president.  All of these rooms give a glimse of the issues that our country was dealing with,

and are all tied together with water which FDR stated was how he contracted polio.

A subject of controversy was whether FRD should have been depicted standing, or in his wheelchair.

Water carried throughout the four rooms.

It was a very enjoyable trip, and I enjoyed seeing the unique sites, and garden elements that

Washington D.C. has to offer.  If you are planning a trip to our Nation's capital, hopefully there was a

stop in the pictures that you will place on your itenerary that you didn't know about before.