TrailingEdgeTechnologies
2009-11-04 01:00:31 UTC
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======
Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin dies at 93
By Rob Rogers
Posted: 10/26/2009 03:22:55 PM PDT
Updated: 10/26/2009 06:23:01 PM PDT
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13645422?nclick_check=1#
Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who designed the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C., Ghirardelli Square in San
Francisco, Sonoma County's Sea Ranch and many other monuments and
public
spaces, died Sunday after a brief illness. He was 93.
"There is no question that he was one of a handful of the most
important
landscape architects of the modern era," said Randolph Hester,
professor
of landscape architecture, environmental planning and urban design at
the
University of California at Berkeley. "His impact on the profession
will
long outlive him."
A Kentfield resident for more than 50 years, Mr. Halprin was born in
Brooklyn on July 1, 1916. Always interested in the relationship of
humans
to their environment, Mr. Halprin earned a degree in plant sciences
from
Cornell University and moved to what was then Palestine to join a
kibbutz.
He met his wife and longtime collaborator, avant-garde dancer Anna
Schuman
Halprin, while studying at the University of Wisconsin in 1939; the
two
married in 1940. After visiting the home and studio of Frank Lloyd
Wright,
Mr. Halprin was inspired to study landscape architecture, and attended
the
Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he studied with architects
Walter
Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
Mr. Halprin volunteered to serve in the Navy during World War II and
was
assigned to the destroyer USS Morris. The ship was destroyed in a
kamikaze
attack. Mr. Halprin recovered from the attack in San Francisco and
remained
in the Bay Area after the war.
"It was announced on the radio that the USS Morris had been hit by a
kamikaze, but I didn't know until three weeks later, when the ship
was
towed in, that he was not one of the casualties," said Mrs. Halprin,
who
was performing on Broadway at the time of the attack. "He had to
identify
hundreds of burned bodies. It was an experience he never, ever got
over."
After working with architect Thomas Dolliver Church in San Francisco,
Mr.
Halprin opened his own office there in 1949. His firm, Lawrence
Halprin
and Associates, eventually created some of the nation's best-known
urban
landscape projects, including Embarcadero Plaza, Levi Strauss Plaza
and
Stern Grove in San Francisco, the 52-acre approach to Yosemite falls
in
Yosemite National Park, the Transit Mall in Portland, Ore. and
Freeway
Park in Seattle.
"He had a way of communicating with the landscape," said Hester, who
worked with Mr. Halprin on a project within San Francisco's Presidio.
"We
were meeting at 9 a.m., and when we got there we discovered that he
had
already been to the site. He had sat there as the sun came up on that
cold, miserable day and come to understand it in a way that was
better
than any of the rest of us, letting that landscape communicate to him
what
it wanted to be. The fountains that are now completely associated
with
Larry's work came from his studying so directly the water patterns of
streams up in the Sierra."
The author of eight books, as well as a documentary on artist
Salvador
Dali, Mr. Halprin consistently sought to include members of the
community
in the creation of public projects.
"He introduced the idea that the design of public spaces should not
be
done in a studio separated from the public," Hester said. "The idea
was
that Larry might be this extraordinary creative genius, but he knew
his
work would be better when he brought in other people."
Mr. Halprin's most frequent collaborator was his wife. In 1979, with
the
Trailside Killer frightening visitors away from Mount Tamalpais, the
Halprins led an effort to "reclaim the mountain" through a "planetary
dance." The dance they originated has since become an annual rite of
spring in 36 nations.
"How can I find the words to express how exciting, creative,
stimulating
and intense working with him was?" said Mrs. Halprin, who recently
choreographed "Spirit of Place," a dance inspired by her husband's
redesign of the Stern Grove amphitheater. "He collaborated with me in
my
dance, and I've influenced him in his design. It's been an exciting
ride
for 70 years. I'm going to miss him."
Mr. Halprin and his work received numerous awards, including the
University of Virginia Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and the
National Medal of the Arts, the nation's highest award for an artist.
"He believed that the most important thing about designing is to
generate
creativity in others, and to be inclusive - to include the needs and
experiences of people interacting with the environment, and to let
them be
part of its creation," Anna Halprin said. "That doesn't mean you don't
use
your own artistic sensibilities to shape and contain and incorporate
your
own vision, but it means that vision must connect with people's
feelings,
experiences and needs. That's his legacy."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Halprin is survived by two daughters,
Daria
Halprin-Khalighi of Kentfield and Rana Halprin of Mill Valley; and
four
grandchildren. His family is planning a public memorial service.
BEST-KNOWN CREATIONS:
- Sea Ranch, Sonoma Coast (1967)
- Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco (1968)
- Embarcadero Plaza, San Francisco (1972)
- Lovejoy Park, Portland, Ore. (1978)
- Freeway Park, Seattle (1974)
- Charlottesville Mall, Virginia (1976)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington D.C. (1997)
- Yosemite Falls Approach, Yosemite National Park (2005)
- Stern Grove, San Francisco (2005)
=====
Bruce B. Reynolds, Trailing Edge Technologies, Warminster PA
======
Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin dies at 93
By Rob Rogers
Posted: 10/26/2009 03:22:55 PM PDT
Updated: 10/26/2009 06:23:01 PM PDT
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13645422?nclick_check=1#
Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who designed the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C., Ghirardelli Square in San
Francisco, Sonoma County's Sea Ranch and many other monuments and
public
spaces, died Sunday after a brief illness. He was 93.
"There is no question that he was one of a handful of the most
important
landscape architects of the modern era," said Randolph Hester,
professor
of landscape architecture, environmental planning and urban design at
the
University of California at Berkeley. "His impact on the profession
will
long outlive him."
A Kentfield resident for more than 50 years, Mr. Halprin was born in
Brooklyn on July 1, 1916. Always interested in the relationship of
humans
to their environment, Mr. Halprin earned a degree in plant sciences
from
Cornell University and moved to what was then Palestine to join a
kibbutz.
He met his wife and longtime collaborator, avant-garde dancer Anna
Schuman
Halprin, while studying at the University of Wisconsin in 1939; the
two
married in 1940. After visiting the home and studio of Frank Lloyd
Wright,
Mr. Halprin was inspired to study landscape architecture, and attended
the
Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he studied with architects
Walter
Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
Mr. Halprin volunteered to serve in the Navy during World War II and
was
assigned to the destroyer USS Morris. The ship was destroyed in a
kamikaze
attack. Mr. Halprin recovered from the attack in San Francisco and
remained
in the Bay Area after the war.
"It was announced on the radio that the USS Morris had been hit by a
kamikaze, but I didn't know until three weeks later, when the ship
was
towed in, that he was not one of the casualties," said Mrs. Halprin,
who
was performing on Broadway at the time of the attack. "He had to
identify
hundreds of burned bodies. It was an experience he never, ever got
over."
After working with architect Thomas Dolliver Church in San Francisco,
Mr.
Halprin opened his own office there in 1949. His firm, Lawrence
Halprin
and Associates, eventually created some of the nation's best-known
urban
landscape projects, including Embarcadero Plaza, Levi Strauss Plaza
and
Stern Grove in San Francisco, the 52-acre approach to Yosemite falls
in
Yosemite National Park, the Transit Mall in Portland, Ore. and
Freeway
Park in Seattle.
"He had a way of communicating with the landscape," said Hester, who
worked with Mr. Halprin on a project within San Francisco's Presidio.
"We
were meeting at 9 a.m., and when we got there we discovered that he
had
already been to the site. He had sat there as the sun came up on that
cold, miserable day and come to understand it in a way that was
better
than any of the rest of us, letting that landscape communicate to him
what
it wanted to be. The fountains that are now completely associated
with
Larry's work came from his studying so directly the water patterns of
streams up in the Sierra."
The author of eight books, as well as a documentary on artist
Salvador
Dali, Mr. Halprin consistently sought to include members of the
community
in the creation of public projects.
"He introduced the idea that the design of public spaces should not
be
done in a studio separated from the public," Hester said. "The idea
was
that Larry might be this extraordinary creative genius, but he knew
his
work would be better when he brought in other people."
Mr. Halprin's most frequent collaborator was his wife. In 1979, with
the
Trailside Killer frightening visitors away from Mount Tamalpais, the
Halprins led an effort to "reclaim the mountain" through a "planetary
dance." The dance they originated has since become an annual rite of
spring in 36 nations.
"How can I find the words to express how exciting, creative,
stimulating
and intense working with him was?" said Mrs. Halprin, who recently
choreographed "Spirit of Place," a dance inspired by her husband's
redesign of the Stern Grove amphitheater. "He collaborated with me in
my
dance, and I've influenced him in his design. It's been an exciting
ride
for 70 years. I'm going to miss him."
Mr. Halprin and his work received numerous awards, including the
University of Virginia Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and the
National Medal of the Arts, the nation's highest award for an artist.
"He believed that the most important thing about designing is to
generate
creativity in others, and to be inclusive - to include the needs and
experiences of people interacting with the environment, and to let
them be
part of its creation," Anna Halprin said. "That doesn't mean you don't
use
your own artistic sensibilities to shape and contain and incorporate
your
own vision, but it means that vision must connect with people's
feelings,
experiences and needs. That's his legacy."
In addition to his wife, Mr. Halprin is survived by two daughters,
Daria
Halprin-Khalighi of Kentfield and Rana Halprin of Mill Valley; and
four
grandchildren. His family is planning a public memorial service.
BEST-KNOWN CREATIONS:
- Sea Ranch, Sonoma Coast (1967)
- Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco (1968)
- Embarcadero Plaza, San Francisco (1972)
- Lovejoy Park, Portland, Ore. (1978)
- Freeway Park, Seattle (1974)
- Charlottesville Mall, Virginia (1976)
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Washington D.C. (1997)
- Yosemite Falls Approach, Yosemite National Park (2005)
- Stern Grove, San Francisco (2005)
=====
Bruce B. Reynolds, Trailing Edge Technologies, Warminster PA