Jensen, Jens

▪ American landscape architect

born Sept. 13, 1860, Dybbøl, Den.

died Oct. 1, 1951, Ellison Bay, Wis., U.S.

      highly original landscape architect whose public and private works, mostly in the U.S. Midwest, are marked by harmonious use of natural terrain and native flora.

      Jensen went to the U.S. in 1884 and settled in Chicago, where he was employed by the municipal West Side Park System (1890–1900, 1906–20). His most successful major park projects in Chicago were the redesigned Humboldt Park and the new Columbus Park. He was chiefly responsible for the establishment of the Cook County Forest Preserve, the most extensive system of nature parks instituted by any U.S. city or metropolitan area. In addition, he laid out the public park system in Racine, Wis., and the Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, Ill. (1936–49).

      Among Jensen's private clients were Avery Coonley, Riverside, Ill. (1907–09; house by Frank Lloyd Wright); Henry Babson, Riverside (1909–11; house by Louis Sullivan and George Elmslie); and Henry Ford, Dearborn, Mich. (1916–20). From the mid-1930s he maintained an art colony, The Clearing, at Ellison Bay, Wis.

Additional Reading

Biographies are Leonard K. Eaton, Landscape Artist in America: The Life and Work of Jens Jensen (1964); and Robert E. Grese, Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens (1992).

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