Arnold Arboretum Entrances
Designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead in 1872, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum is the oldest arboretum in the country. This 281-acre “living museum,” home to more than 15,000 plant species, is bordered by some of Boston’s most distinctive and diverse neighborhoods but is a largely untapped source of education, respite, and beauty. KMA’s team, in partnership with landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand (RH), was contracted to help the Arboretum answer the question, “How can we become more welcoming to neighboring communities that do not see us as a resource?”
Key to answering that question was the Arboretum Gates Study, a collaborative analysis by KMA and RH of accessibility and landscape attributes at all 17 entrances, with the goal of improving connectivity and the landscape experience between the Arboretum and adjacent neighborhoods. The Gates Study then gave rise to the Entrance Improvement Project, in which the Arboretum asked KMA to collaborate with Michael van Valkenburg Associates (MVVA) to design alterations to five of the most critical gates identified in the original Study.
Renderings courtesy of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc
