(b New York, 1 July 1916). American architect and urban planner. He studied at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and at Harvard University (MSc 1941) with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. After serving in the US Navy in the Pacific, he worked with the firm of Thomas D. Church and Associates, San Francisco, from 1945 to 1949. He then established his own office in San Francisco, occasionally accepting partners. In his work he emphasized the role of landscape, a theme he developed from houses and gardens to shopping centres and eventually in urban planning. Notable examples of the latter include the master plan (1957) for the Seattle Center, Seattle World’s Fair (1962), portions of the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) project, San Francisco (1966), and the Freeway Park, Seattle (1976). His concern with environmental issues led him to design functional projects that seek to balance the demands of man and nature, particularly in areas affected by urban blight. He received several awards for this work, notably the American Institute of Architects Design award seven times between 1954 and 1969. He also taught at a number of universities across the USA, and his workshops and writings attracted a large following. Two of his most important books, RSVP Cycles (1970) and Notebooks (1972), emphasize the cooperation and creativity necessary for the design team.

• Halprin, Lawrence
  • Church, Thomas D.
  • Fountain, §IV, 4: Western world: Modern
  • Minneapolis
  • Seattle