February 2010
One of my favorite memories of Larry was shortly after I’d joined the Office of Lawrence Halprin. I was asked to attend a high level meeting for the Letterman Campus project with Larry. The person who typically attended these meetings with Larry was unavailable and, as I was relatively new to the office, I was quietly warned by several people that I was to keep an eye on Larry and just make sure things ran smoothly – “don’t let him say anything crazy’ I was warned by someone. Shortly into the meeting tensions rose as the Lucas representative (new to the project) began critiquing some of Larry’s design ideas and direction, demanding things be changed. Not at all pleased with being challenged Larry pushed back. As Larry and the Lucas rep’s voices became heated the tension in the room was visible. Many of the principals in the room were looking down and fidgeting as the Lucas rep began screaming that he was the person in charge, he was running the project, and that Larry was going to have to listen to direction from him. Very calm and still – Larry twirled his cane, turned to the owner’s rep and said, “Fuck you, this is my project. I’m running this project. I’ve designed it, and either I run it or I’ll walk.” At this point I think everyone in the room except Larry had stopped breathing. I asked if we might be able to take a five minute break - the room was cleared in about two seconds.
Needless to say, egos were eventually massaged and after a couple tense weeks Larry and the Lucas project manager became tight friends. They began to work out the issues together in a mutually respectable way. But what I saw in that conference room stuck with me. It was the first and only time I’ve seen a designer tell a client to “fuck off.” But more importantly it illustrated one of Larry’s strengths – a fierce dedication to his vision and a palpable confidence in his design vision so strong that he was willing to stand up for it no matter the consequences. I think this confidence was what allowed him to maintain control and realize so many of his projects.
Photo: Halprin and Sullivan at work (Photo courtesy the Office of Lawrence Halprin, 2005)