A sketch done by Halprin references the "Sierra at 11,000 feet" and muses that the rock could inspire a possible "wall for Portland fountain."

A drawing by Lawrence Halprin details the landscape plan.

Skyline Park in Denver, Colorado, stretches over three city blocks. Halprin derived the sunken form from an eroded riverbed. Completed in 1974, the park also served as a stormwater retention site.

A master of appealing to a variety of stakeholders in a project, from city government to citizens, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin frequently used illustrations to convey complex ideas.

His design for Lovejoy Fountain, in Portland, features concrete slabs that echo the forms of the surrounding Cascades. Like the Portland Open Space Sequence as a whole, it coaxed nature into the city.

The major space in the Portland Open Space Sequence, the Ira Keller Fountain, opened on June 23, 1970. “Halprin knew how to engage the public, and his flexible, bottom-up approach often enabled him to get projects built,” said Laurie Olin, landscape architect.

The late San Francisco landscape architect Lawrence Halprin.

A collection of objects from Lawrence’s desk include stencils, paint rags, glasses, and a notebook.

Studio 804's 1,500-square foot house supports the city of Lawrence's goals of increased downtown-adjacent residency.

The butterfly-roof pavilion by architects Kate Simonen, Benjamin Parco, and Phil Kaefer connects to the low-slung home Joseph Esherick designed in 1954 via two covered walkways and an open-air tearoom. All three structures sit lightly on the landscape designed by Lawrence Halprin and updated over 50 years later by Gary Roth, a former employee.

A Lawrence Halprin drawing of the house.

“With the restoration and reopening of The Sea Ranch Lodge, we are excited to honor the vision of the original developer and original group of architects including Al Boeke, Lawrence Halprin, and MLTW (Charles Moore, Donlyn Lyndon, Whitaker, and William Turnbull) – stewardship and respect of the land, sustainability for The Sea Ranch and creating a gathering place for all Sea Ranchers,” said Kristina Jetton, General Manager, The Sea Ranch Lodge.

Sunset at Sea Ranch, 1977, by Lawrence Halprin. Image courtesy The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

"Watchmaker," Jacob Lawrence, 1946.

Built into the foot of a forested mountain, the Pool House is located at the edge of the St. Lawrence River valley floor.

Pieces from Lawrence’s voluminous archive act like unintentional architectural ornaments, bringing color and humanity to the often Spartan LOT-EK design.

Lawrence and Alice confer in the ground-floor kitchen. Traces of color are visible everywhere, including the orange-and-yellow curtains and pink coathooks.

Sea Ranch master planner Lawrence Halprin envisioned an ecologically-minded community that wouldn't disturb the breathtaking natural surroundings of the coast. Charles Moore's design nestles into the land.

Landscape architect Lawrence Halprin developed the original masterplan for Sea Ranch's 10 miles of coastline along the Pacific. The Locational Score (1981) was a graphic representation of the ideals and principles the community was based on.

Lawrence Weiner sits at his daylit desk. The bare walls are perfect for tacking up new projects, and the steel ductwork gives the space an industrious feel.

In 1939, Walter Gropius drafted a radical architectural vision for the campus alongside Marcel Breuer, though it was never built because of cost. By 1941, Black Mountain had raised enough money to build a full campus, employing modernist architect A. Lawrence Kocher as the chief designer. Resting on the shore of Lake Eden, the two-story, 202-foot-long Studies Building formed the campus' epicenter.

Architect Lawrence Halprin wrote of his Portland Open Space Sequence that he wanted the eight blocks of parks and plazas to contain "nodes for quiet contemplation, action, and inaction, hard and soft, yin and yang."

A couple enlist Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to reimagine their home as a multigenerational meeting point. In 1963, landscape designer Lawrence Halprin devised a master plan for a community that would live in harmony with the natural environment. The resulting Sea Ranch, which stretches 10 miles along the Pacific coastline in Sonoma County, California, is characterized by timber-frame, wood-clad structures that are in dialogue with the local climate and terrain. Sited on a bluff within this pioneering community is the vacation home of a lawyer couple. After purchasing the residence in 2007, they lived in the home as it was for four years, even keeping the previous owners’ furniture. Envisioning a retreat that would accommodate their extended family and guests, they then recruited Butler Armsden Architects and Leverone Design to help guide the project.

The founder and president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, Charles Birnbaum analyzes how landscape architect Lawrence Halprin created public spaces that galvanized cities. “There are many practitioners I am fortunate to count as friends,” he says. “The person I miss daily is Larry Halprin, a visionary with a wide comfort zone who took a great big bite out of life.” Favorite outdoor space: “The Frick’s East 70th Street Garden by Russell Page—it’s a master class in restraint.”

The massing and materials are in response to existing surroundings, with use of rendered brickwork, natural stone, mesh, and patinated copper sheet, as seen applied to the walls and ceiling of the chapel's sanctuary. [via Architizer]

The Chapel of St. Lawrence by Avanto Architects, which opened in 2010, is set in a historic site in Vantaa, Finland. The new building links the town's old medieval stone church and bellcote to a new, modern volume.

Lawrence, seven, shows off his toy collection on a vintage Cado wall unit in his bedroom,

A Kohler sink and drain accompany a Waterworks faucet under the new window. The custom cabinetry is painted with Farrow and Ball’s Light Gray, and the rug is from Lawrence of La Brea.

Sighting Avondale Mall by Andrew Scott Ross and Scott Lawrence

Freeway Park, 1976, Seattle, WA, Lawrence Halprin, Of recent efforts to declaw the park by ripping out a third of the waterfalls, Birnbaum says, “It’s like removing two of the Burghers of Calais! This was the first park built over a freeway in America. It’s magical and confrontational. Today you have to squint to get the impact; they’ve added garish plantings, removed benches to deter the homeless, and have plans for a sculpture garden, when the whole place is a sculpture.”

Visitors can keep lookout for the St. Lawrence River’s resident marine mammals, which include Beluga and Sperm whales, from a pair of Adirondack chairs.

Lawrence relaxes in the master bedroom with a hand-rolled cigarette. The room has a lavender ceiling (Alice was told it’s the best color to see when waking).

Halprin in the mid-1960s.

A small amphitheater was built at the edge of the house for gatherings and Anna Halprin's dance workshops.

The Halprin residence, unlike any other at Sea Ranch, is built along the cliffside.