LAWRENCE HALPRIN is the visionary architect
responsible for the four astonishing, massive concrete fountains that
spread across Southwest Portland’s downtown blocks. His fountains are
wonderful because it seems unlikely that they can exist: made of
inviting waterfalls and sturdy cement platforms, there is not a “Keep
Off” sign in sight.
Luckily, Where the Revolution Began, a concise new collection
of essays and images explaining how Halprin’s unlikely fountains came
to be, lives up to its high-minded title. Editor Randy Gragg layers
down-to-earth essays about Halprin (and his wife, choreographer Anna
Halprin, whose work inspired the design of the fountains) between
unique and intimate pages of the architect’s own sketchbook. The
perfect coffee-table book for Portland architecture nerds has
arrived.
Gragg argues that the revolution that began with Halprin was the
reshaping of Portland’s public space. Halprin’s open, modern, fun
fountain plazas heavily influenced Portland’s entire aesthetic and
culture, from Pioneer Courthouse Square to a pro-public mentality in
city hall.
In an anecdote that resonates in Portland’s politics today, Gragg
details how business owners and general squares lashed out in 1968 at
free-spirited types who swam in Halprin’s first fountain. The suits
submitted a 5,000-signature “Petition to Discourage the Influx of
Hippies to our City.” Thankfully, more tolerant heads prevailed.