by Gerson Bakar
February 2010
In the 1950’s, Larry brought an unbelievable amount of energy and creativity to a landscape plan for a small apartment building in San Francisco that I was developing. In the 1960’s, Larry was the natural choice to be the landscape architect for Woodlake, a 1000 unit garden apartment in San Mateo. Countless thousands of residents have and continue to enjoy Larry’s design.
In the 1970’s, after Larry had “retired,” I asked him whom he would recommend to do the landscape plan for Levi’s Plaza. Larry looked at me, thought about my question for a few seconds, and said, “From this moment on, I am no longer retired. Use me.” And another award winning design was created.
Levi Strauss had given me a maximum landscape budget. Of course, Larry’s plan came in a bit over budget. But Larry was politically skillful enough to convince Levi Strauss to fund the overage for his magnificent design.
To the best of my knowledge, Larry never did the hard line drawings needed for bidding. Larry’s skill was in creating conceptual drawings, and these drawings in themselves were worthy of framing. Attached is a reproduction of a “Halprin original” done for Levi’s Plaza’s fountain. This hangs in my office.
And I’m not the only one who appreciates the art of Larry’s drawings. Once we went to the new baseball park in San Francisco with one of the owners. Larry, being Larry, did a drawing of the park which I later saw displayed prominently in that owner’s office.
Even more important to me than Larry’s created landscapes are my memories of working with him. He cared, he pushed, and he argued with passion. Over more than 50 years I have had the good fortune to experience his warmth and friendship. Larry will be missed, but never forgotten.
Photo: Levi’s Plaza (Image courtesy Gerson Bakar)