Lawrence Halprin

In the news… and in the Library…

Lawrence Halprin, the Brooklyn born, California-based landscape architect who designed the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington as well as other important public works around the world, died on October 25, 2009.

In its obituary, The New York Times calls Halprin “the tribal elder of American landscape architecture…” noting that he “used the word choreography to describe his melding of modernism, nature and movement.” (NYT, 10/28/09)

The Dec ’07 issue of Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes focuses on the private gardens that Halprin designed with a catalogue of 36 gardens including photographs and maps, and a listing of 393 commissions. The Jan ’06 issue is devoted to his public projects.

The Library also owns Sketchbooks of Lawrence Halprin published in Japan in 1981 featuring delightful color illustrations dancing across the page in Halprin’s signature style. The works represented are Sea Ranch, Portland Open Space Sequence, the FDR Memorial, Levi Plaza, and Jerusalem.

Skyline Park, Arapahoe Street from 15th to 18th Sts, Denver, CO

Lawrence Halprin: The choroegraphy of private gardens
Studies in the History of Garden & Designed Landscapes, Oct-Dec 2007, Vol. 27 Issue 4 p258-270

Lawrence Halprin's Public Spaces: Design, Experience and Recovery. Three case studies
By: Hirsch, Alison, Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes, Jan-Mar 2006, Vol. 26, Issue 1, p1-93, 8 diagrams, 5 maps, 17 cartoons, 119bw

information from Katherine Powis, HSNY Librarian