A biography of the influential landscape architect Celebrated as one of the great landscape architects of his era, Jens Jensen drew on his love of nature to transform Illinois and the Midwest. Chicago’s Columbus Park and the Lincoln Memorial Garden in Springfield, Illinois, remain part of his vast living legacy while Jensen’s conservation work influenced the establishment of national parks and natural spaces. A member of the Prairie School, Jensen’s affinity for nature found expression not only in public spaces but in his estate designs for Henry Ford and other industrialists. William H. Tishler tracks Jensen’s career and provides a wealth of new information on his personal life: his fierce dislike of and independence from the eastern establishment, and his bold proposals for the Indiana Dunes and other spaces. Tishler also examines Jensen’s semi-retirement in Door County and his creation of The Clearing, a folk school devoted to connecting human beings with nature.

Revealing and expert, Jens Jensen illuminates the processes, challenges, and passion that shaped a visionary’s work and world.