The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin - Boston
The Landscape Architecture of Lawrence Halprin, a traveling photographic exhibition about the life and work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin (1916-2009), is currently on view in Boston, Massachusetts, at the Boston Architectural College through November 17, 2018. Created in 2016 during the centennial anniversary of Halprin’s birth, the exhibition features 56 newly commissioned photographs by leading landscape photographers of dozens of Halprin’s major works, including recently rediscovered residential projects created early in his career in the 1950s; the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.; capstone projects such as the Yosemite Falls approach and Stern Grove in San Francisco; the Los Angeles Open Space Network; and Plaza Las Fuentes in Pasadena.
Halprin was, without doubt, among the foremost landscape architects of the twentieth century. His prolific career spanned more than six decades, with highlights that also include Freeway Park (in Seattle, Washington), and the Portland Open Space Sequence (in Portland, Oregon). 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. While the traveling exhibition will honor Halprin and his career, it will also call attention to the need for the informed and effective stewardship of his irreplaceable legacy. Like much of the work of prominent landscape architects in the post-War period, many of Halprin’s designs are now in a diminished state, while some face an uncertain future.
