Douglas Baylis

Douglas Baylis (January 7, 1915 – November 28, 1971) was a landscape architect often credited as a founder of the "California School" of modern landscape architecture alongside contemporaries Thomas Church, Garrett Eckbo, and Robert Royston.

Early life and education[]

Baylis was born in 1915 in East Orange, New Jersey^[2] and moved to California, where he attended high school; he graduated in 1941 from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in landscape architecture, minoring in art and architecture.^[3] His professors at Berkeley included , John William Gregg, and . Baylis was the first to receive the student award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).^[4]

Baylis met his wife, graphic designer Maggie (née Hilbiber), after she moved to California and advertised for "hands for hire"; the two were married in 1948. Doug and Maggie's strengths complemented each other and they collaborated successfully, primarily on residential gardens, throughout his career.^[2]

Career[]

After graduation, Baylis worked for Thomas Church for approximately four years before leaving to start his own firm, working from his home office on Telegraph Hill.^[2] Baylis was retained as the supervising landscape architect for the Berkeley campus from 1956 to 1959.^[4] He served on the San Francisco Arts Commission in the late 1950s and was appointed a trustee of the ASLA in 1963.^[3]

Notable commissions include:^{[4][5]:271–272}

• Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco
• Washington Square, San Francisco (1956, with )
• Monterey Road
• Gardens at IBM Headquarters, San Jose (1957, with John Savage Bolles)
• Glen Park and Balboa Park stations for BART (1968–70, with Ernest Born)
• Unit-House, Hayward (in collaboration with architect )^[6]

Baylis was hired and created conceptual designs for the surface level of Portsmouth Square in the late 1950s while plans were being prepared to excavate an underground parking garage,^[7] but later disavowed further work on the site.

Douglas and Maggie Baylis worked with the Douglas Fir Plywood Association in the early 1960s to develop the "Play Projects": portable wooden structural units designed for children to stack, climb, and play, including Plyform (later renamed Tri-Tower), Flying Saucer, Tippy-totter, Freeway, Climbing Tower, and Kitty Corner.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Death and legacy[]

Baylis died in 1971 in San Francisco.^[1]

A scholarship is named for Baylis, established in 1998 by the Maggie Baylis Revocable Living Trust, for landscape architecture students studying at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.^[12]

References[]