National Register of Historic Places
Halprin Open Space Sequence
Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon
The record
- Listed
- March 6, 2013
- Type
- Historic district
- Address
- SW Open Spaces & Pedestrian Malls from Lincoln to Clay Sts., Portland
- County
- Multnomah
- State
- Oregon
- Contributing resources
- 1 structure, 12 sites, 5 objects
- Coordinates
- 45.51237, -122.68009
- Reference number
- 13000058
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
The outline is the area recorded for this listing in National Park Service map data, drawn approximately.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUSGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Halprin Open Space Sequence is a historic district of open spaces and pedestrian malls designed by Lawrence Halprin, extending from Lincoln to Clay Streets in Portland, Multnomah County. It was built between 1966 and 1970 in the Modern Movement style.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2013 under criteria A and C, with Criteria Consideration G, and with national and local significance in Landscape Architecture and Community Planning and Development. Its period of significance runs from 1966 to 1970, the years Lovejoy Fountain Park and Pettygrove Park were named and the Forecourt Fountain was dedicated.
Physical character
Its walkways and plazas are built of exposed aggregate concrete, brick, asphalt and Portland cobble, with steps and retaining walls of Rocky Butte and Camas basalt stone. A concrete waterfall about 80 feet wide and 25 feet high moves roughly 13,000 gallons of water a minute into a reflecting pool with a Portland cobble surround. Curved wood-slat and concrete benches sit on platforms of brick, concrete, asphalt and Portland cobble, and a copper-roofed pavilion is attributed to Charles Moore.
Historical context
The sequence grew out of Portland's South Auditorium Urban Renewal District, developed in the 1960s and extended north in 1966. Halprin produced his first complete design for the parks and malls in 1965, the year construction began in May. Halprin approved the 1979 installation of The Dreamer sculpture in the reflecting pool.