Jens Jensen: The Living Green

Gr 9 Up—Jens Jensen, a Danish immigrant, came to Chicago in the late 19th century and became one of the nation's leading landscape architects. He worked in the Chicago city parks system before starting his own landscape design business and was well-acquainted with architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Daniel Burnham. He often collaborated with them to design open, green spaces in the city and on private estates. Known as the "poet of the prairie," Jensen admired that ecosystem and reproduced it in his many designs. Using native plants and designing with nature, his work is best described as "the American Garden." He created more than 600 parks and gardens and led the movement to preserve the Indiana Dunes along Lake Michigan. His goal was to fashion democratic landscapes filled with light, greenery, and an oasis of quiet for all peoples. Jensen became an innovator and ahead of the times in the conservation movement. This documentary not only describes his work but also places him in the context of the times of rapid industrial growth and notes of the plight of city workers.