Action architecture: Lawrence Halprin's experiments in landscape design, urbanism, and the creative process

This dissertation project provides a critical retrospective of the work of landscape architect and environmental designer Lawrence Halprin. In doing so, it traces his development of the RSVP Cycles as a multi-disciplinary method for systematically guiding the creative process. He has built environments from small private gardens to large public commissions integrating the seemingly disparate ideas of the Bauhaus, ecology, participatory art practice, and avant-garde dance. Instead of providing an exhaustive history of Halprin's projects, I have focused on key multi-media works highlighting a number of different art objects and ephemera---sketches, architectural plans, gardens, urban plazas, workshop scores, and writings---all of which are integral to my theories about Halprin's signature role in shaping postwar spatial participatory design practices. For Halprin, the artistic process is as important as the object produced; thus, it makes sense to examine both his process as it took form and the finished products. This study argues that some of his most vital contributions to the history of architecture and art practice are the strides he made with his research into the creative process itself.;Halprin aimed to bring "action" to architectural practice by promoting a collaborative work environment and by creating interactive spaces. Doing so creates a focus on both architectural and creative processes, developing what I call action architecture.