Architect Lawrence Halprin dies

[Kadie]

Architect Lawrence Halprin dies
John King, Chronicle Urban Design Writer

Monday, October 26, 2009

(10-26) 11:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Lawrence Halprin, a landscape architect who shaped the look of Northern California as much as any single designer, died Sunday. He was 93.

His career spanned 60 years, touching such cultural landmarks as Ghirardelli Square, Market Street, the restoration of Stern Grove and the original design of UC-Berkeley's Sproul Plaza. He also was one of the creators of the design for Sea Ranch, the influential 5,000 acre community on the Sonoma Coast.

Beyond the Bay Area, Mr. Halprin worked at a scale that often brought him up against icons - whether it was redoing the base of Yosemite Falls in 2005 or designing the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., an effort that began with Mr. Halprin winning an international design competition in 1974 and concluded with the opening of the memorial on the Tidal Basin in 1997.

The former U.S. Navy lieutenant didn't confine his creativity to jobs for clients. In the 1960s he launched a series of "experiments in environment" workshops influenced by the work process of his wife, dancer Anna Halprin. He wrote at least eight books and his documentary on Salvador Dali, "Le Pink Grapefruit," won an award at the 1976 San Francisco Film Festival.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/26/BA8O1AAR25.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0V4Yj92Qv