Andrew Jackson Downing In 1850, President Millard Fillmore commissioned landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing to landscape the Mall. <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/356">His design divided the Mall into four smaller parks</a>, each with a unique appearance, <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/261">connected by curving walks</a>. Downing was an advocate for urban parks and hoped his design would inspire other cities to create large parks. He died suddenly at age 36 in a steamboat accident before the Mall's new landscape design was finished. A<a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/11"> memorial urn</a> in the <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/431">gardens</a> outside of the Smithsonian Castle honors his contributions to the Mall's design history. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=39&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=Andrew+Jackson+Downing">Andrew Jackson Downing</a> Image from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1830-1859">1830-1859</a>