Olmsted Brothers created a plan that adapted the area's steep topography into a landscaped park. According to their original 1927 design, Fort Tryon Park was to be a "landscape park occupying a site of extraordinary landscape interest", devoted mostly to "passive recreation" except for a playground at its northern edge. Fort Tryon Park's landscape also served as the backdrop for the Cloisters, intended as the "culminating point of interest in the architectural design of the park." The natural topography was largely preserved, with the park being designed around the terrain. Olmsted Jr. believed that the park should use a variety of landscapes: