Gezicht op de American Watch Company en een park in Waltham, Massachusetts before 1879

This photograph from around 1859 by Thomas R. Lewis captures the American Watch Company and its adjacent park in Waltham, Massachusetts. The factory, a symbol of American industrial ambition, stands in stark contrast to the adjacent park, a verdant space that softens the factory's hard, imposing lines. Consider how the image presents the manufactured and the natural: the park, perhaps intended as a respite for the workers, creates a deliberate juxtaposition of nature and industry. This juxtaposition is reminiscent of the "hortus conclusus," or enclosed garden, a medieval motif representing purity and sanctuary. Here, the park offers a similar, albeit secular, refuge from the rigors of industrial labor. But like the medieval garden, the factory looms, reminding us of the world beyond the enclosure. The symbolism here is a cyclical progression. The park as Eden—lost, but also, a reminder of what industrial progress risks leaving behind. This tension, between nature and industry, echoes through time, resurfacing in debates about progress and preservation, reminding us of the deep, subconscious yearning for harmony in a rapidly changing world.