Church, Thomas Dolliver

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Church, Thomas Dolliver (1902–78). American landscape-architect, influenced by the Modern Movement, and especially by Aalto. His use of curved forms, as at the Donnell gar-den, Sonoma, CA (1947–9), with its kidney-shaped swimming pool, proved to be a model for the Californian upper middle classes. His major projects in California were the Park Merced, San Francisco (1941–50), campus plans for the University of California at Berkeley (1961) and Santa Cruz (1963), Harvey Mudd College, Claremont (1963), Stanford University at Palo Alto (1965), and Scripps College, Claremont. Among other works the landscape designs for General Motors Research Center, Detroit, MI (1949–59), and Wurster's Valencia Public Housing, San Francisco (1939–43), may be cited. Acknowledged as the leader of the Californian School of landscape design, his ideas were disseminated through his writings and assistants (including Baylis and Halprin).

Bibliography

Church (1955, 1983, 1969);
Landscape Architecture, lxvii/2 (1977), 128–139, 170–1;
Landscape Design, ci (1973), 8–12;
Tischler (ed.) (1989);
W&S (1994)

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Church, Thomas Dolliver

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