Lawrence Halprin, FASLA

One of the world's leading landscape architects and environmental planners, Lawrence Halprin has long been at the forefront of urban design innovation in the United States. His practice comprises a catalogue of leading-edge environmental design in projects ranging from inner urban centers to National Parks. His reputation is built on over fifty years of expanding our expectations for the environmental realm.

Projects that have been transformed by his particular sensitivity and talent have become benchmarks in the development of our current values. All of these projects spurred others to reassess the value and use of their resources. These projects include:

The Sea Ranch, a residential development on the California coast which is recognized for its great sensitivity to community values and the natural environment;

Ghirardelli Square, an early model for the reuse of historic buildings in an urban environment;

The plazas and grand fountains of Portland, Oregon, a joyful participation in public open spaces (they say "come-in", not "stay out");

Seattle Freeway Park, an environmental design to heal an urban freeway wound;

Levi Plaza in San Francisco, an urban corporate campus as an alternative to flight to the suburbs;

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, a presidential memorial in Washington D.C. which set a new standard for the public's involvement in their past.

Halprin passed away in Kentfield, CA in October 2009 at the age of 93.  New York Times Obituary

"There's a difference between architects and landscape architects.  They make objects.  

We don't.  We make experiences . . . We're not trying to find a form.  The land is the form."