image: TCLF
Join Charles Birnbaum and Ann Komara for the signing of their new book Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park at the ASLA Bookstore on Sunday from 12:30 to 2:00. (You can see HALS documentation “in action,” as the book incorporates some of the drawings done before the park was demolished)
Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park is the inaugural work from Modern Landscapes: Transition and Transformation, a Princeton Architectural Press series produced in concert with The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) that focuses on historically significant mid-century works that have been demolished or have undergone a significant transformation. Each publication in the series will chronicle the planning and design motivations behind the work, illuminate its history, place it within its historic design context, and, perhaps most importantly, draw attention to mid-century landscape treasures while raising awareness of their unique design value, inherent vulnerability, and historic preservation needs.
Lawrence Halprin’s Skyline Park showcases the acclaimed landscape architect’s urban renewal effort for downtown Denver in the 1970s. Drawing on the rugged beauty of the city’s natural surroundings for inspiration, Halprin created a signature landmark of fountains, walls, and berms that served as an urban promenade and an oasis from the surrounding streets.
This monograph honors the legacy of Halprin’s original work by presenting the most comprehensive documentation available of the park’s conception, construction, and use before its total redesign in 2003. It features new photography, archival drawings, and original documentation. An essay by Halprin, the last he wrote before his death in 2010, appears as an epilogue.
The monograph was written by Ann Komara, an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver. There are also essays by Laurie D. Olin, FASLA, Partner, OLIN, Philadelphia, PA and an introduction by TCLF president Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA. The publication was funded in part by a grant award from the State Historical Fund, a program of History Colorado, the Colorado Historical Society.
To order the book visit: http://tclf.org/about/publications/lawrence-halprins-skyline-park
by Chris Stevens, co-chair of the Historic Preservation PPN