Early pioneers of DLT

One of the earliest practitioners to see the relevance of new technologies to landscape design was Thomas Church, an environmental architect based in San Francisco. His studio nurtured the talent of, among others, Lawrence Halprin, an innovative landscape designer who participated in the Donnell Garden project in San Francisco while being part of the Church studio. Halprin promoted the idea of Landscape architecture as process-oriented rather than static. Halprin maintained that Landscape architecture had the potential to be a highly creative profession akin to artists’ work, that landscape design could reflect ‘Celebrating human creativity and community life within the context of nature using environmental motifs metaphorically in his designs.

The American Institute of Architects Medal for Allied Professions (1964), the Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects ASLA Design Medal (2003), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978), the University of Virginia Thomas Jefferson Medal of Architecture (1979), and the National Medal of Arts (2002), the country’s highest honor for an artist, were among the many awards Halprin earned. Several of Halprin's works are RSVP Cycles, Taking Part, Cities, Freeways, and Notebooks.