The Mies van der Rohe Honeylocust of the Alfred Caldwell Grove

This Old Tree

A big, old, thorny honeylocust tree on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago has a place within the history of modernist architecture and landscape design. How so? Professor and landscape architect Ron Henderson talks about the tree's relationship to Mies van der Rohe and his colleague Alfred Caldwell, and how the honeylocust became the feathery urban forest powerhouse it is today.
Guests
Ron Henderson
Professor and Director of Landscape Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology
Founding Principal, LIRIO Landscape Architecture
lirio.work
https://arch.iit.edu/study/mla/
Richard Polansky
Owner, Hafs Road Orchard
Genoa City, Wisconsin
hafsroadorchard.com
Tree Story Short
Tom Brennan
Podcast Consultant
Martha Douglas-Osmundson

Theme Music
Diccon Lee, www.deeleetree.com
Artwork
Dahn Hiuni, www.dahnhiuni.com/home
Website
thisoldtree.show
Transcripts available.
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This Old Tree podcast is a sponsored project of New England ISA. To support This Old Tree and New England ISA, click here.
We want to hear about the favorite tree in your life! To submit a ~4 or 5 minute audio story for consideration for an upcoming episode of "Tree Story Shorts" on This Old Tree, record the story on your phone’s voice memo app and email to:
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This episode was written in part at LitArts RI, a community organization and co-working space that supports Rhode Island's creators.
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1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. Honeylocust trees are common, but special? (00:00:57)

3. Ron Henderson introduced (00:02:17)

4. Honeylocust characteristics for design (00:03:33)

5. S.R. Crown Hall at IIT (00:08:31)

6. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe immigrates (00:11:10)

7. Alfred Caldwell's IIT landscape design (00:14:38)

8. The modernists find the honeylocust (00:18:47)

9. Richard Polanski describes Alfred Caldwell (00:23:52)

10. Ron Henderson describes appreciation for honeylocust (00:37:32)

11. Honeylocust trees, mastodons, and giant sloths (00:42:44)

12. Thornless and seedless varieties developed (00:43:55)

13. Teaching about the Mies van der Rohe Honeylocust (00:45:54)

14. Tree Story Short - Tom Brennan (00:48:53)