The Main Academic Quadrangle at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge is a simple, but central place, adorned without excess. In response to the wishes of the University administration, the designers made it a place where students, faculty, and alumni would love to be and which, according to the lyrics of the LSU Alma mater, would bring back "fond memories...."

In the mid-1970's, before the buzzword "placemaking" was common to our vocabulary, Henslee-Thompson-Cox (a local firm of three Registered Landscape Architects-all of them alumni) completed designs for renovations to the existing three and one-half acre quadrangle, taking advantage of the architectural and natural beauty. Instead of "ornaments," you'll find people using the space-students and faculty-getting fresh air, experiencing nature, escaping the rigor of the classroom or the bookstacks of the nearby library. Nothing fancy, but the essence of Landscape Architecture.

LSU's original academic center was created in the shape of a cruciform when the campus was relocated to a rural plantation site in the 1920's. Italianate red-tiled buildings, featuring arcaded facades of fine beige aggregates, formed the space. Aligned along a north-south axis, the space was punctuated by a large flagpole at the intersection of the axes. Except for a row of Southern Live Oaks (planted shortly after World War II) that paralleled the long axis on each side, there was little landscape design. Later administrators created the existing rectilinear space (and a great deal of controversy) by positioning the main library where the flagpole had been, thereby forming three small quads and one major space, now known as "The Quad," with the library at its north end. Disliking the library intrusion, the '60's campus "landscape architect" planted a dense grove of Spruce Pine to hide the facade. Thinking that visitors and alumni could be more favorably impressed, the '70's administration sought someone not associated with the University to reconsider that pine screen and other necessary design decisions.

Live Oaks had become sacred (Alma mater lyrics refer to "stately oaks..."), and no one wanted to provoke the alumni or the campus "landscape architect," though one oak in The Quad had died and another lightningstruck giant was dying. Laid out when LSU was essentially a military school, with only a few narrow (cross) walks and no longitudinal walks outside of the building arcades, the original walk system was ineffective without a military school regime. Students walked everywhere, making The Quad a quagmire in the rain and a dust bowl when dry. The Live Oak trunks provided unity by repeating the forms of the arcades and the massive branches made a grand canopy, but a sense of "enclosure" could only be experienced from what little grass was left.

The designers took the approach that the entire space should be considered paved and looked for places which could remain green to "punch out." Diagonal routes, instead of non-functional, right angular walks, were a practical solution. Replacement would be easier than curvilinear walks, and present and future patterns of movement could be better accommodated. Wide walks, formed from simple alternating patterns of aggregate (to match the buildings) and concrete, made great shadow catchers. At the Chancellor's request, seating and gathering places of all scales and types were distributed throughout with the intent of accommodating varying needs for privacy, socialization, or people-watching and of providing places for staging special events, elections, and festivals. The planting palette was kept simple, too, but a few new specimens were introduced to the campus for botanical interest and plant identification purposes. Strategic groves of Evergreen Elm and Crape Myrtle were positioned in the paved areas for canopy, and hundreds of Azaleas were set in large groundcover beds around the Live Oaks.

The result is an explosion of color, light, and activity throughout the year-to which people in colorful attire add the final animated ingredient. A planned fountain and monumental student sculpture were never realized-not so much due to budget limitations, but rather because they are not necessary. Measured against trends toward elaborate or "gimicky" designs that overfill landscapes with artifacts, often producing more shock value than aesthetic appeal, LSU's Quad is a rare example of simple spatial quality that compares favorably with other major university spaces as a wonderfully proportioned place of elegant simplicity and beauty...the stuff of "fond memories..." LASN

The essence of the landscape just needed a "steward" to reveal its subtle beauty to the users.

As is usually the case, the budget was not exactly conducive to creating extraordinary memories. Yet, that factor ultimately forced an elegant simplicity to the central University space. Rather than clutter the space with elaborate details, the Landscape Architects decided to simply bring people out into the space and let nature (mainly in the form of the Live Oaks) do the rest. A planned fountain and monumental student sculpture were never realized-not so much due to budget limitations, but rather because they were not necessary.

The LSU Quad compares favorably with almost every other major university space as a wonderfully proportioned space with elegant simplicity and beauty.

As with most landscapes, designed or otherwise, seasonal and daily climatic changes make passing through the space-on the way to class, the library, or lunch at the Student Union, a journey of anticipation. Today, there is deep shade in the hotter summer months and dappled shade in the fall and short winter, when the sun is at a low angle and shining underneath the low-branching oaks, now approximately 50 years old.

Deeply shaded in summer, the LSU Quad is sunlit in fall and winter when, from a low angle, the sun shines underneath the low-branching oaks, approximately 50 years old.