Lawrence Halprin Halprin’s Life In 1916, Halprin was born in New York, America. At the age of 17, he left his hometown and lived for 3 years in a farm in Haifa. Afterwards, he came back to America and began his studies in plant science and agriculture at Cornell University and University of Wisconsin. He entered the B.L.A. program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in 1942, studying with landscape architect Christopher Tunnard, whose book Gardens in the Modern Landscape (1938) Halprin credited with confirming his interest in landscape architecture.1 This is an significant period in Halprin’s design life because the influence of learning environment and teacher in Harvard shaped the basics of his design thought. After the outbreak of the Second World War, Halprin served as the American sub-lieutenant during his military service from 1942 to 1945.2 After 1945, he toured natural wonders and accumulated a large number of sketching about water bodies and rockery in nature. After the tour, in spring 1945, he returned to the United States and joined Thomas Church’s firm in San Francisco, where he worked for four years. In 1949, Halprin opened his own firm, Jean Walton, Donald Carter, Satoru Nishita, and Richard "Viggie" Vignolo were the people he hired in earliest stage and they would remain with him for several decades while the practice grew to more than sixty staff.3 Halprin did landscape and architecture work for several decades and died in 2009. Halprin and wife Anna
Design Features Experience as if we were in the nature The effect exerted by the design of Halprin is usually the experience as if we were in the nature. Through research and study, the abstract rule of the natural process can be sensed, and some certain features that can create the sense of place in the nature can be discovered. It can be conceptualized and applied in the creation of urban environment.4
Emphasis on the nature and localism
Park Central Square
United Nations Plaza
Halprin adopted water and concrete to construct the urban landscape. On the basis of deeply understanding the nature and the process and form of orders, the natural spirit can be represented in the artificial abstract means, instead of simple transplant and imitation of the nature.5
Conversion of the formalized language Some classic California gardens were designed at the early stage, and there were many lines in the work. However, he quickly turned to the use of the formalized language including straight lines, curved lines and rectangles.6
1 2 3 4 5 6
The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin (The Cultural Landscape Foundation). (2018). Retrieved from https://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/halprinlegacy/lawrence-halprin.html Lawrence Halprin: Landscape Architecture in Israel. (2018). Retrieved from https://californiahistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2016/03/lawrence-halprin-landscape-architecture.html The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin (The Cultural Landscape Foundation). (2018). Retrieved from https://tclf.org/sites/default/files/microsites/halprinlegacy/lawrence-halprin.html Lawrence Halprin: the enlightenmnet of landscape practice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.xueshu.com/fjyl/201406/3258476.html Lawrence Halprin: the enlightenmnet of landscape practice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.xueshu.com/fjyl/201406/3258476.html Lawrence Halprin: the enlightenmnet of landscape practice. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.xueshu.com/fjyl/201406/3258476.html
Grand Hope Park
Projects Halprin has many famous works, such as Ferris House landscape, Park Central Square, United Nations Plaza and Grand Hope Park, etc. Two of these famous design will be introduced.
Lovejoy Foundation Park The most important wok of Halprin was a set of plazas and greenbelts he designed for Portland City. Three plazas were connected by a series of constructed pedestrian paths, and Lovejoy Plaza was the first station of the series. The connotation of the plaza title was the vivid and exciting centre which remarks public participation in the design. The plaza fountain attracted people to get wet and discovered their feelings of fountains. Around the fountain is the irregular and curved terrace.7 For Halprin, the portland series showed his unique understanding of the nature. The irregular terrace of Lovejoy Foundation Park was the simplification of natural contours. The irregular roof of the plaza corridor came from the ridge line of the Rocky Mountains. The water trajectory of the fountain was the result of his continuous research of High Sierra streams. Concrete steps and designs by the pond at the Lovejoy Foundation Park formed the feeling of water flowing by. The image came from the inspiration of the plateau and desert, and it was famous for the symbolic cliff. The design inspiration was derived from natural fountains and cliffs.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial As one of the greatest American presidents, Roosevelt leaded the American citizens through the economic depression and the Second World War, enabling the USA to be the world’s most powerful country. However, the construction of his memorial park underwent several drawbacks and was eventually designed by Lawrence Halprin. It marked the new era from vertical monuments to horizontal memorial spaces. The memorial space, with the Washington Monument as its center, forms the east-west axis with the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol. The White House forms the north-south axis with the Jefferson Memorial, while the Roosevelt Memorial Park is located in the southwest of the SAR, the tidally created riverside opposite to the Jefferson Memorial on the other riverside.8 The entire park is divided into four areas, and the four terms of President Roosevelt serve as the basis of dividing the space. New England prairie rocks from Roosevelt’s hometown play the role of the enclosing element for the whole space, and the firm and tough texture makes people feel the courage and determination of Roosevelt. 9 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a pioneering work that created by Halprin, most of the previous memorial usually use stela as the main part but the main idea of FDR Memorial is the experience. When people walk through the four parts of FDR Memorial, they can know what happened in those periods which is like they are experiencing history.
7 8 9
Lovejoy Plaza | The Cultural Landscape Foundation. (2018). Retrieved from https://tclf.org/landscapes/lovejoy-plaza Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/fdr_memorial.html Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/presidents/fdr_memorial.html