RSVP-ing Lawrence Halprin: Experiential equivalency at the Jones Falls (Maryland)

This essay traces the landscape design development of an urban section of a greenway along a stretch of the buried Jones Falls River in Baltimore, Maryland. The author's interest in the natural and cultural history of the Jones Falls, and her wish to address environmental issues regarding stormwater in an innovative way, led to a study of Lawrence Halprin's idea of “experiential equivalency”, and of the concept of the “technological sublime”, as a means of engaging the public in a place that would stimulate a new understanding of our relationship to the planet.; The study site, one of the largest remaining open parcels of land (15 acres) within the City, is presently comprised of an elevated interstate highway, a city road that runs atop the channelized river, paved parking lots, the stables for ten police horses, and a few insignificant buildings. The author examines ways in which to reveal the hidden river and concomitantly both its natural and technological history; to incorporate a highly visible stormwater filtration system into the site, which allows runoff from I-83 to be stored and re-used; and to juxtapose the technology of both the past and of the future against a pastoral landscape which includes open space for the horses. The intent is to provoke resonance at an intuitive level with what Halprin calls “primal dimensions”, to engage the participant in a dance that reveals new truths about man and nature.