Halprin was, without doubt, among the foremost landscape architects of the twentieth century. His prolific career spanned more than five decades, with highlights that include the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (in Washington, D.C.), Freeway Park (in Seattle, WA), and the Portland Open Space Sequence (in Portland, OR). His firm was a seedbed for many talented designers now celebrated in their own right, and the innovative techniques he pioneered changed the field forever. Influenced by the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and New Deal-era programs that provided social relief, Halprin believed that he could and should contribute to the greater good. He wanted to improve the lives of urban dwellers during a period when many people were fleeing cities and new highways were destroying older neighborhoods.
Halprin鈥檚 oeuvre initially included residential gardens, campuses, and housing projects, but by the mid-1960s his firm, Lawrence Halprin & Associates, had turned decisively to creating urban landscapes, including a series of innovative plazas, parks, pedestrian malls, and public spaces that garnered international notice and critical acclaim. Halprin focused not only on the design of his projects, but also on the design process itself. Influenced in many ways by his wife, dancer and choreographer Anna Halprin, his approach was phenomenological, foregrounding the experience of moving through the landscape. He developed new graphic techniques to represent such experiential movement, and, radically for the time, involved local communities in the creation of the spaces they would inhabit.
Landslide Conversations
The result was landscapes that demanded interaction and exuded dynamism, a dynamism matched by Halprin鈥檚 magnetic and bold personality. Expanding on the lofty ambitions pioneered by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., (a personal hero) in park making and city shaping, Halprin propelled these ideas forward in an age of Modernism 鈥 both in his built works and in his influential treatises Cities (1963) and Freeways (1966).
Along with the work of Garrett Eckbo, Dan Kiley, James Rose, Robert Roytston, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, John Simonds, and other Modernist landscape architects, 亚洲精品无码一区 has from its very beginnings championed Halprin鈥檚 legacy. 亚洲精品无码一区 convened two international conferences on Preserving Modern Landscape Architecture (1995 and 2002), and published the conference proceedings thereafter (Spacemaker Press, 1999 and 2004). Halprin and others were featured in 亚洲精品无码一区 books and publications (Pioneers of American Landscape Design, 1999; Shaping the American Landscape, 2009; and Shaping the Postwar Landscape, 2018), helping to bring critical visibility to and awareness of his work and legacy; and he was the focus of an early 亚洲精品无码一区 Pioneers video oral history.
For all five of the Halprin sites featured in this report, deferred maintenance was a key issue that put them at risk. A lack of awareness about the importance of each site within the context of cultural landscapes generally (and Halprin鈥檚 legacy specifically) often led to a lack of stewardship and care. In each case 亚洲精品无码一区 worked to educate the public and city officials; brought media attention to the sites; collaborated with partners; urged public involvement; promoted designation on local, state, and/or national registers; and, with Freeway Park and Park Central Square, became a consulting party in Section 106 deliberations. Key to its advocacy and engagement has been its Landslide reports and exhibitions.
In 2008 亚洲精品无码一区 dedicated its Landslide program of at-risk landscapes to twelve Marvels of Modernism, including two of Halprin鈥檚 sites (Heritage Plaza and Manhattan Square Park). The exhibit highlighted the fact that many Modernist landscapes had, until recently, been misunderstood and underappreciated. 亚洲精品无码一区鈥檚 partners in drawing attention to these irreplaceable works were the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, NY, and Garden Design, which, along with 亚洲精品无码一区, co-curated a travelling exhibition of newly commissioned photographs. Design Within Reach showrooms and regional American Society of Landscape Architects chapters (including New York, Chicago, Northern California, Illinois, and others) co-hosted travelling signboard exhibits displayed in more than a dozen cities. The exhibit gained widespread media attention, including from The New York Times, directing public attention to Halprin鈥檚 sites and generating enthusiasm for thoughtful stewardship solutions.
Following the first National Register designations of Halprin-designed landscapes in 2010 (Park Central Square, Heritage Park) and 2013 (Portland Open Space Sequence), 亚洲精品无码一区 saw a softening of interest and an opportunity. In May of 2016 亚洲精品无码一区 was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works grant totaling $35,000 to help mount a traveling photographic exhibition, The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin.
The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin opening at the A + D Museum, Los Angeles, CA, 2017. Photo courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
The exhibit, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of Halprin鈥檚 birth, opened at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., in October 2016 and traveled extensively thereafter. For the opening exhibit, organizers secured artifacts from the Halprin archives at the University of Pennsylvania, including original drawings, photographs, plans, shadowbox dioramas, and other items. While honoring Halprin and his career, the exhibit also called attention to the continued need for informed and effective stewardship of his irreplaceable legacy.
In concert with the Halprin exhibition, 亚洲精品无码一区 also orchestrated a What鈥檚 Out There Weekend: The Public Landscapes of Lawrence Halprin of free tours dedicated to Halprin鈥檚 legacy in the U.S. and Israel, 2016. Photo by Ginger Garza.
Since the initial designation of Denver鈥檚 Halprin-designed Skyline Park twenty years ago (which still remains at risk), 亚洲精品无码一区 has championed Halprin鈥檚 extensive and unrivaled design legacy. As evidenced in these five success stories, all with diverse state and local partners, there is a public appetite and enthusiasm for revitalizing this unique and significant legacy.
Designed by Lawrence Halprin & Associates in the mid-1970s to revitalize the city鈥檚 downtown, Charlottesville Mall is significant not only for its subtle and innovative design solutions, but also for incorporating community workshops into the design process. Opened in 1976, the project is located along the city鈥檚 historic Main Street, just two blocks from its 1780s Courthouse Square. This eight-block-long by 60-foot-wide street has become Charlottesville鈥檚 public living room. Theaters, restaurants, shops, and apartments line a lively space characterized by willow oak bosques, a brick floor, and significant outdoor seating with moveable chairs and tables. Several small-scale fountains also punctuate the sequence.
Background
In 2002 the mall received the accolades of the Pew Partnership for Civic Change, acknowledging it as one of three programs that brought a 鈥渄owntown back to life.鈥 With the demolition of the Halprin-designed sculpture garden at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond in 2006, the Mall is now the sole surviving project by Halprin in the state of Virginia.
Professor Elizabeth Meyer at Charlottesville Mall exhibit, University of Virgina, Charlottesville, VA, 2010. Photo by Charles A. Birnbaum, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Advocacy and Engagement for Charlottesville Mall
Although the site survived through the end of the twentieth century, at a time when many pedestrian malls from the same period were being demolished, it suffered from years of deferred maintenance, leading 亚洲精品无码一区 to enroll the Mall in its Landslide program of at-risk landscapes in 2008. 亚洲精品无码一区 also addressed concerns over 鈥渃osmetic upgrades鈥 proposed by a 2005 master plan.
In the fall of 2008 students and faculty from the University of Virginia鈥檚 departments of architectural history and landscape architecture, led by Professor Elizabeth Meyer, began researching and documenting the Mall. Their findings, including information from interviews conducted with Dean Abbott, who worked on the project in Halprin鈥檚 office, were compiled in an exhibition and small 2009 publication. Their work went on to capture public and media attention, and influenced some factors in the Mall鈥檚 rehabilitation, including the conservation of the Mall鈥檚 historic brick paving.
Caption: Charlottesville Mall exhibit, University of Virgina, Charlottesville, VA, 2010. Photo by Charles A. Birnbaum, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
亚洲精品无码一区 again highlighted the Mall in The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin, noting ongoing challenges following its 2008 rehabilitation. Citing additions to the site that were not in keeping with Halprin鈥檚 design intent, 亚洲精品无码一区 called for clear design guidelines to be established for any changes, alterations and additions. In addition, 亚洲精品无码一区 urged that the Mall be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In partnership with Preservation Virginia, 亚洲精品无码一区 organized a field visit to Charlottesville Mall as part of its What鈥檚 Out There Weekend: The Public Landscapes of Lawrence Halprin. The tour was led by Meyer, who introduced participants to myriad reasons for the street鈥檚 success.
Building on the rehabilitation work and the public鈥檚 interest, in June 2023 the Mall was as the Downtown Mall Historic District, a significant step towards a future listing in the National Register. This state-level recognition by the Virginia Board of Historic Resources notes that of the more than 200 streets around the United States that were pedestrianized between 1960 and 1980, the Charlottesville Mall is one of approximately 30 that remain pedestrian-only. That it continues to be an active commercial and cultural corridor within the historic downtown core is a testament to the design process and principles championed by Halprin.
The first park in the world to be built over a highway, this 5.5-acre site is perched above Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, where it uses the air rights of the interstate. Completed by Lawrence Halprin & Associates under the design direction of Angela Danadjieva, and with Jean Walton as the lead horticulturalist, the first phase of the park opened in 1976; it was a daring and innovative response to the newly built interstate, which, in the 1960s, had cleaved the city鈥檚 downtown from the First Hill neighborhood, virtually cutting the city in two. The park was the progenitor of a new design typology 鈥 emulated to this day 鈥 that boldly reimagined the role of the public park as an element of infrastructure.
Background
Landslide Conversations
The park is defined by a series of irregular, linked plazas that are intertwined and enclosed by board-formed concrete planting containers and walls. Halprin and Danadjieva had previously collaborated on Portland鈥檚 Auditorium Forecourt, which abstracted a mountain waterfall. Here, Halprin鈥檚 office abstracted the topographic undulations of the city鈥檚 landscape. The separate areas of the park, known as the Central Plaza, East Plaza, and West Plaza, achieve consistency and cohesion through a shared materials palette of concrete, broadleaf evergreen plantings, and site furnishings.
Site Plan for Freeway Park, Seattle, WA. Image by Lawrence Halprin & Associates, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
The Central Plaza is dominated by a roiling sheet of water in freefall, tumbling over an assertive assemblage of overhangs and outcrops. The spaces are differentiated through the dynamism of the water features that occupy the spaces and the attendant differentiation of moods. The park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Alison B. Hirsch (right) leads fellow Halprin experts on a tour of Freeway Park prior to a panel discussion at a Town Hall event, Seattle, WA, 2019. Photo by Charles A Birnbaum, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Advocacy and Engagement for Freeway Park
亚洲精品无码一区 enrolled Freeway Park as a Landslide site in 2006. Over time the park experienced a continual erosion of its original design elements. Plans in the guise of making the park 鈥渟afer鈥 and more habitable also failed to reference the precedent-setting status of the park and its design, proposing the demolition of several of the concrete retaining walls and the alteration or removal of two of the original fountains. The Freeway Park Association was formed in 1993, operating in cooperation with Seattle Parks and Recreation; they worked to build a broader constituency for the park.
As an exemplar and a progenitor of a landscape typology, 亚洲精品无码一区 suggested in 2016 that future designation of the park in the National Register of Historic Places, as a National Historic Landmark, or even as a World Heritage Site, could help honor and steward Halprin鈥檚 groundbreaking work. Freeway Park was listed in the National Register in 2019, stemming in part from a Section 106 review initiated by the Federal Highway Administration in October 2016, which began after plans were announced for a $1.7 billion expansion of the nearby Washington State Convention Center. 亚洲精品无码一区 was an official consulting party in that review. A coalition including the Community Package Coalition and the Freeway Park Association obtained $10 million in funds to support the Freeway Park Improvements Project, with construction slated to begin in summer 2020.
Through the efforts of 亚洲精品无码一区 and other groups, Freeway Park was designated a local landmark in 2022 and is now protected by a city ordinance. With the $10 million in funding, Seattle Parks and Recreation will be required to meet the Secretary of the Interior鈥檚 Standards for future work and to engage with the public through multiple avenues of outreach. Phase one of the project will provide new lighting, wayfinding signage, seating, plantings, irrigation, and enlarge Seneca Plaza. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2025, bringing new life to a site that, along with others by Halprin and according to Rich Haag, is a 鈥渕onumental tableau of the interplay of energy, sound and light of columns of water鈥 where spectators are 鈥渋rresistibly challenged to test their bravado, their skills and join in the fun.鈥
Conceived to commemorate the city's founding as the Camp Worth military post in 1849, this half-acre plaza forms part of the 112-acre Heritage Park, located along the Trinity River. Heritage Park Plaza was designed by Halprin with Satoru Nashita as part of the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial Celebration. It opened in 1980. (Freeway Park, noted above, was another Halprin-designed Bicentennial commission.) Heritage Park is located at the site of the original fort, highlighting its historic symbolism and the impressive views that originally drew settlers to the spot. It is sited on a steep bluff where the West and Clear forks of the river converge, just north of the Tarrant County Courthouse and west of the Paddock Viaduct (the Main Street Bridge). As Alison Hirsch has observed, the site channels water downward to the Trinity River, 鈥渄emonstrating reverence to the topographic feature that made this site historically significant.鈥
Background
Opening day event at Heritage Park Plaza, Fort Worth, TX, 1980. Image courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Overall, the plaza is an intimate space composed of interconnected terraced concrete pathways, geometric rooms, and flowing water channels. As with many of Halprin鈥檚 projects, the design focuses on the visitor's purposely choreographed processional experience passing through the outdoor rooms (Halprin would adopt this commemorative and dynamic aesthetic for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., the plan for which he was working on at the same time). Water flows down from the upper portion of the site, connecting to larger water features, including rills, waterfalls, and water walls. The tree canopy emphasizes live oaks, usually sited in intimate lawn areas. The design and layout reinterprets Camp Worth鈥檚 original footprint, while also incorporating a water wall with a representation of the original plan of the fort, and another wall fountain featuring a raised inscription that reads: "Embrace the spirit and preserve the freedom which inspired those of vision and courage to shape our heritage.鈥
Heritage Park Plaza Signboard, Marvels of Modernism, 2008. Image courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Advocacy and Engagement for Heritage Park Plaza
The plaza was originally part of a larger vision for downtown Fort Worth, which failed to be realized, thus isolating the park from the rest of the downtown area by a road system uncongenial to pedestrians. Disuse led to deferred maintenance, and over the years the plaza witnessed a steady decline. In 2007 it was closed indefinitely to visitors. Fountains were turned off, trees became overgrown, understory plantings died or were removed, and steps, paving, and site furnishings deteriorated. A forbidding chain link fence was installed around the plaza and entrance to the park. As the risk of demolition swelled, 亚洲精品无码一区 enrolled Heritage Park Plaza in its Landslide report, Marvels of Modernism. With increased public and media attention, enthusiasm for solving the planning and stewardship challenges without destroying the park gained momentum.
This was buoyed by the landscape鈥檚 listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 2010, with Significance in Landscape Architecture 鈥 the first Halprin designation solely in this category (Park Central Square, see below, preceded this but was an expansion of an existing historic district). Most importantly, the plaza was deemed eligible for individual listing even though it was not yet 50 years old. Now with its historic significance recognized, five years of discussions would take place in which 亚洲精品无码一区 was an invited participant to not only explore the best approach to rehabilitating the Halprin-designed landscape, but to do so in its greater, and very challenging, physical setting.
In 2015 Downtown Fort Worth Initiatives, Inc., collaborating with the City of Fort Worth, began work on a formal rehabilitation plan. In 2016 亚洲精品无码一区 highlighted the park once again, this time in The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin.
The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin, Fort Worth, TX, 2018. Photo by Lauren Philips, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
The Fort Worth City Council approved $1 million in 2020 for design work by Bennett Partners and Studio Outside related to the plaza; in 2022 the Council heard updated plans by MIG to better connect downtown with Heritage Park by improving its connectivity with both the Trinity River and the adjacent Paddock Park. These plans involve pedestrian circulation including the addition of a Canopy Walk and River Stairs to the Trinity River, which was also a goal of Halprin鈥檚. The opening date for the new work is slated for 2026, thus capping 亚洲精品无码一区鈥檚 nearly decade-long involvement as an advocate and collaborator.
This five-acre site in the East End district of downtown Rochester was occupied by tenements prior to 1968, when the city cleared 60 apparently 鈥渂lighted鈥 acres for urban renewal. Designed by Lawrence Halprin & Associates in 1971-1972, the park was the centerpiece of the first and only phase of the Southeast Loop Plan, an open space surrounded by largely unrealized high-density development. As with Seattle鈥檚 Freeway Park (see above), Halprin was confronted with a city physically divided by a recently constructed interstate; in this case the Inner Loop. City officials hoped optimistically that this park would become 鈥渢he true activity center of the new mixed-use area.鈥
Background
One of Halprin鈥檚 most multi-purpose facilities, the park opened in 1974, offering a reprieve from congested urban living. The park was divided into six zones, including a children鈥檚 play area with a wading pool, a hockey rink that converted to tennis and basketball courts, a large meadow for athletic events, a bermed garden shaded by a grove of trees, and a wide, tree-shaded promenade. According to Alison Hirsch, the promenade 鈥渓inks the park鈥檚 pieces together鈥 and spatially connects the site with the neighborhoods just outside the Inner Loop.
Sections of Manhattan Square Park, Rochester, NY, 1971. Image by Lawrence Halprin & Associates, courtesy Architectural Archives of the University of Pennsylvania.
The focal point of the park is a sunken, concrete plaza containing a 2,000-seat amphitheater with a restaurant, and a waterfall fountain. A steel scaffold-like frame with viewing platforms allows visitors to experience the plaza from a vertical perspective. As landscape architect Ken Smith noted in his case study of Manhattan Square Park for the 2004 亚洲精品无码一区 publication, Preserving Modern Landscape Architecture: Making Postwar Landscapes Visible, the space frame functioned in several important ways, serving as 鈥渁n important element highly visible several blocks away from the park,鈥 as 鈥渁 kind of proscenium, framing the theatrical space of the sunken fountain plaza,鈥 and as an 鈥渙verlook tower rising from the structure and allowing open views across the park and downtown cityscape.鈥 The park鈥檚 complex, multi-level spaces were realized through concrete steps and retaining walls arranged in angular patterns, creating what Halprin called a 鈥渇our-dimensional鈥 landscape.
Manhattan Square Park Signboard, Marvels of Modernism, 2008. Image courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Advocacy and Engagement for Manhattan Square Park
The ideas that contributed to the park鈥檚 design were progressive and revolutionary for 1974 when it opened but did not generate the anticipated pedestrian traffic. Minimal use combined with insufficient maintenance through the 1980s and 1990s led to the park鈥檚 accelerated deterioration. The observation tower was closed, the waterfall fountain was shut off, and the lighting system on the space frame was allowed to fail. General neglect led to further decline in use, and invited vandalism. Expanding on Ken Smith鈥檚 essay published by 亚洲精品无码一区 in 2004, 亚洲精品无码一区 included the park in Landslide 2008: Marvels of Modernism, evocatively captured in Rick Hock鈥檚 commissioned photographs.
Following its inclusion in the 2004 publication and 2008 Landslide report, in an oral history interview with 亚洲精品无码一区, Halprin suggested that championing places such as Manhattan Park and 鈥渇inding ways to either modify them or bring them up to date or treasure them, but particularly treasure them if they鈥檙e worth treasuring鈥 is 鈥渙ne of the responsibilities that the profession [of landscape architecture] could take on for itself.鈥 As one of the champions of Manhattan Square Park, 亚洲精品无码一区 urged renewed public investment in the site, cautioning that its unique design and features would be lost if they were allowed to continue to deteriorate.
Landslide Conversations
In 2016 亚洲精品无码一区 highlighted Manhattan Square Park again, this time in the Landslide report and photographic exhibition dedicated to Halprin. In concert with the travelling exhibition and online exhibit, 亚洲精品无码一区 presented free tours of Halprin-designed landscapes such as Manhattan Square Park. The tour was led by JoAnn Beck, the city鈥檚 former project manager leading the park鈥檚 rehabilitation.
With increased local and national media attention, the city eventually approved a phased capital project based on already underway master planning efforts. Undertaken by Stantec, the rehabilitation work included opening sightlines to increase views and safety, repurposing the skating rink as a reflecting pool and pavilion, and rehabilitating the former restaurant building as an event space. In the fall of 2016, after nearly a decade of advocacy and education by 亚洲精品无码一区 and others, the waterfall fountain was turned back on for the first time in 25 years.
Landslide Conversations
The park was renamed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park in 2013. In September 2022 its amphitheater was given the name 鈥淒aniel Prude Square鈥 in honor of Prude, who lost his life at the hands of police in March 2020 while experiencing a mental health crisis. Halprin鈥檚 park continues to meet its original vision as a vital multi-use activity center for the neighboring community.
In 1969 the Downtown Springfield Association in Missouri set out to find a design firm to improve a barren, paved vehicular area that had recently been given park status as a memorial to the Dorsey Heer family. The association hired Lawrence Halprin & Associates, and this became the firm鈥檚 second Missouri project, following their Kansas City Civic Center Master Plan. The project was completed in 1974. According to city documents, Springfield aimed to create a 鈥淧ublic Square for beauty, convenience, commerce, and fun鈥; with Park Central Square Halprin aspired, in his own words, to create something with 鈥渁 different feel which will be easily perceptible to everyone.鈥 He aimed to create 鈥渁n active space for public assembly, devoted to pedestrians and their needs and comforts.鈥
Background
Along with the planning and design team, Halprin considered the dynamic and complex networks of transportation and pedestrian systems moving in and about downtown. Unlike traditional squares, the streets enter at the center of each side of the square rather than from its corners, creating a sense of enclosure. The predominant feature of the square is a slightly depressed, paved, central plaza designed to cater to large civic gatherings. A fountain constructed of Indiana limestone and inspired by the region鈥檚 limestone ledges serves as its focal point, enlivened by water that cascades into a shallow basin. The design also includes ample seating areas; a pavilion influenced by Charles Moore鈥檚 work on Lovejoy Plaza (Portland, OR); a sculpture by Aristides Demetrios, who had collaborated with Halprin on other projects; accent plantings; and site-specific street furniture. When Park Central opened in 1970, the front-page headline in the Park Central News stated that it was the 鈥淏eginning of the Future for Center City.鈥
Rendering of Park Central Square, Springfield, MO, date unknown. Image by Lawrence Halprin, courtesy The Offices of Lawrence Halprin.
George McLaughlin shares the history of Park Central Square from his San Francisco home, 2008. Photo by Charles A . Birnbaum, courtesy 亚洲精品无码一区.
Advocacy and Engagement for Park Central Square
Although lauded at the time of its opening in 1974, the square suffered from years of poor and deferred maintenance; in 2007 the Springfield City Council proposed to demolish nearly all of it, with a major reconfiguration of the site. Ruth Kelley, a long-time property and business owner in Springfield whose daughter had studied landscape architecture, wrote a letter to the local newspaper, asking the council to reconsider. Her heartfelt letter was picked up on by 亚洲精品无码一区, who contacted Mrs. Kelley.
During that initial conversation, Mrs. Kelley noted, 鈥淚 think it would be a mistake to change this beautiful park and most of the people who have responded to my letter to the editor agreed.鈥 In January 2008 亚洲精品无码一区 enrolled the park in its Landslide program of at-risk landscapes. Park Central Square subsequently became the focus of a public debate on the value of open space and design.
The City Council held a meeting in February 2008 and with less than two days鈥 notice prior to that meeting, 亚洲精品无码一区 submitted a letter to the council members that would speak to the square鈥檚 design significance. The issues raised by 亚洲精品无码一区 struck a chord with Council Member Dan Chiles, who cast the lone vote against the development plan. The proposed redesign was approved.
Recognizing the landscape鈥檚 significance, 亚洲精品无码一区 became a lead consulting party for the subsequent Section 106 review, playing a crucial role in the square鈥檚 determination of eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. In April of 2008 a representative of the City of Springfield informed the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) that Halprin 鈥渉ad no personal involvement in the current design.鈥 亚洲精品无码一区 visited George McLaughlin, the project鈥檚 manager in Halprin鈥檚 office at the time of the square鈥檚 design and construction. At his home in San Francisco, McLaughlin clarified Halprin鈥檚 involvement in the design of the square, clearly refuting the city鈥檚 claim. In May 2008 the Missouri SHPO notified the City of Springfield that the park was determined eligible for listing in the National Register and that the proposed alterations would have an 鈥渁dverse effect鈥 on the historic property, which stalled the development plan. Mark Miles, Director of the SHPO, stated, 鈥淲e are confident that design approaches can be developed that address the City's and the citizens of Springfield's concerns as well as protecting the significant elements of this important historic design." The campaign to protect Halprin鈥檚 design eventually prevailed due to vocal public support, leading to a full rehabilitation of the square, including needed repairs of the fountains.
Landslide Conversations
In December 2008 Halprin stated, 鈥淚 must say that I feel immensely honored to hear that Park Central Square is eligible for the National Register. I soon hope to hear that it has gained full recognition for I know that such attention usually leads to renewed public appreciation and involvement. I have always felt that in a democracy, citizens must remain vigilant and involved regarding their important shared resources.鈥 Sadly, Halprin would not live to see this designation. In February 2010 (four months after Halprin鈥檚 passing), the square was listed in the National Register of Historic Places; the determination is significant not only because it is the first Halprin-designed landscape so recognized, but also because Park Central Square was designed in 1970, and thus less than 50 years old, a baseline for assessing eligibility.
With the park revitalized, in 2019, Dan Chiles, former city council member and mayor pro tem of Springfield, who was actively involved in the campaign to save Park Central Square, led a 亚洲精品无码一区 tour as part of What鈥檚 Out There Weekends: Lawrence Halprin鈥檚 Legacy. The tour provided a history capstone for the square鈥檚 revitalization and Halprin鈥檚 vision for Springfield, describing the efforts made to save the landscape and the larger values of urban public space and design that it successfully embodies.
Selected Resources
The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin Gallery Guide
Preserving Modern Landscape Architecture: Making Postwar Landscapes Visible
鈥淧reserving the Modern Landscape鈥
鈥淩are Lawrence and Anna Halprin Conversation with James van Sweden Discovered鈥
鈥淒ocumenting Halprin鈥檚 Charlottesville Mall,鈥 April 16, 2009
鈥淟andslide Update: Charlottesville Mall,鈥 June 26, 2023
Angela Danadjieva鈥檚 Recollections, Freeway Park
鈥淔reeway Park Improvements Project Moves Forward,鈥 November 8, 2019
鈥淔urther Recognition for Seattle鈥檚 Freeway Park,鈥 May 2, 2022
鈥淗alprin鈥檚 Freeway Park Added to National Register,鈥 January 15, 2020
鈥淢ajor Agreement Reached on Freeway Park,鈥 April 5, 2018
鈥淩FQ Issued for Halprin鈥檚 Freeway Park,鈥 January 17, 2019
What鈥檚 Out There Weekends, Lawrence Halprin鈥檚 Legacy: Freeway Park
鈥$1 Million Approved for Work on Halprin鈥檚 Heritage Park Plaza,鈥 April 13, 2020
鈥淐onsensus Reached: Design Workshop to Reopen Heritage Park Plaza鈥
鈥淗eritage Park Plaza Added to National Register of Historic Places鈥
鈥淗eritage Park Plaza 鈥 Landslide Update,鈥 July 27, 2023
鈥淭he Plight of Fort Worth鈥檚 Modern Treasure鈥
What鈥檚 Out There Weekends, Lawrence Halprin鈥檚 Legacy: Heritage Park Plaza
Manhattan Square Park (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park)
鈥淔ountain at Halprin Park Rightfully Restored,鈥 May 19, 2017
鈥淭hreatened Halprin Park Makes a Comeback,鈥 June 6, 2016
What鈥檚 Out There Weekends, Lawrence Halprin鈥檚 Legacy: Manhattan Square Park
鈥淔orgotten Halprin-designed Park Central Square at Crossroads,鈥 January 15, 2008
鈥淗alprin's Park Central Square added to the National Register,鈥 February 5, 2019
鈥淧ark Central Square Designated One of Four 鈥楪reat Places in Missouri鈥,鈥 February 25, 2016
鈥淧ark Central Square: The Real Story,鈥 May 8, 2008
What鈥檚 Out There Weekends, Lawrence Halprin鈥檚 Design Legacy: Park Central Square
Selected Media Coverage
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Heritage Park Plaza, Fort Worth, TX, 2016. Photo by Dror Baldinger.