Urbs in Horto
Urbs in Horto became the official motto of the City of Chicago in 1837, and city planners
seem to have taken the Latin phrase, which translates to City In A Garden, to heart.
The city is awash in color. The flowers are blooming, and the fountains are flowing.
Hidden in a corner of Lincoln Park just north of the Zoo is an urban sanctuary: the Alfred
Caldwell Lily Pool.
Caldwell worked in the architectural landscape firm of one of the giants in landscape
design, Jens Jensen. Caldwell eventually became a landscape designer for the Chicago Park District in the 1930s, and transformed a formal, Victorian lily pond dating to 1889, into a more natural Midwest prairie landscape. Jensen did a lot of work with the architects of the Prairie School, and you can especially see their influence in the pavilions Caldwell designed at the pool's edge.
The limestone outcroppings were intended to mimic limestone outcroppings which can
be found throughout the region. Frank Lloyd Wright used limestone in creating his home in Wisconsin, Taliesin, because the rock was prime-for-the-picking on his large estate. Caldwell lined pathways, the pond's edge, and created the base for a small waterfall, with the stone.
When I lived in Chicago years ago, most people had no idea this little respite from the
hustle and bustle of city life even existed. Back then, this corner of the Park was called the Rookery, and the pond was a haven for thousands of ducks, with nary a lily in sight. It was forlorn, crumbling, unkempt overgrown with weeds, and full of duck droppings, but I still came here often, sat on a stone seat sketching in ink and pencil, and marveled that this small haven had survived at all.
In 2001, the Chicago Park District undertook a rehabilitation of the old Rookery. Invasive,
non-native trees and shrubs were replaced, the pond was dredged to remove contaminants, bird friendly native plants were planted, and the lilies returned. The Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool was designated a City of Chicago Landmark and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was nice to return to the place where I'd spent many a quiet afternoon and see it looking better than I'd remembered. Although it may sound crazy, I want to come back in January and take some pics when the pond is covered in ice, the trees are leafless, and the sun is shining brilliantly, in a way that it only does at that time of year. Because even under those circumstances, the motto Urbs in Horto still applies. Well maybe with the Latin word for winter thrown in!
Posted by designslinger at 8/4/2009 2:15 AM 
Categories: Architecture,Gardens,Preservation
Tags: Lily Pool Chicago parks Alfred Caldwell landscape architecture
Categories: Architecture,Gardens,Preservation
Tags: Lily Pool Chicago parks Alfred Caldwell landscape architecture
Lovely pictures and story. It's not the kind of thing I would expect to find in Chicago at all!
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Thanks for the compliments! After all those years in LA, it's been great rediscovering my old home town and it's hidden treasures.
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Really nice. I look forward to seeing those winter pictures.
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