"One is, that they will feel about you that you're going to make something wonderful for them. And they help you by expressing themselves. Not telling you how to do it, but encouraging you and accepting your vision and working with you on that kind of a level"
About this Quote
Halprin sketches a collaboration model that’s less “design by committee” and more mutual belief, the kind that turns an architect’s private hunch into a public reality. The first move is psychological: clients (or communities) “feel about you” that you’ll make something wonderful. That word choice matters. It’s not rational consensus, it’s trust as atmosphere - a permission slip for experimentation. Halprin is talking about the social conditions that let good work happen before a plan is even drawn.
The subtext is a critique of two dead ends: top-down auteurism and participatory theater. He draws a line between “expressing themselves” and “telling you how to do it.” In other words, he wants genuine input without reducing design to a customer-service transaction. People are invited to articulate desires, fears, memories - the lived texture of a place - while the architect remains responsible for synthesis. Encouragement becomes a form of labor: “they help you” by backing the risk inherent in making something new.
Contextually, this sits neatly in Halprin’s mid-century world of urban renewal, modernist ambition, and rising skepticism toward expert-driven planning. His own practice leaned into choreography, experience, and process (from plazas to landscapes), often using workshops and “scores” to capture how people move and gather. The quote defends a middle path: participatory enough to be humane, disciplined enough to be coherent.
It also reveals an ethic of authorship: “accepting your vision” isn’t ego, it’s accountability. Halprin is arguing that shared projects require a clear creative center - not because the public is incapable, but because someone has to hold the whole.
The subtext is a critique of two dead ends: top-down auteurism and participatory theater. He draws a line between “expressing themselves” and “telling you how to do it.” In other words, he wants genuine input without reducing design to a customer-service transaction. People are invited to articulate desires, fears, memories - the lived texture of a place - while the architect remains responsible for synthesis. Encouragement becomes a form of labor: “they help you” by backing the risk inherent in making something new.
Contextually, this sits neatly in Halprin’s mid-century world of urban renewal, modernist ambition, and rising skepticism toward expert-driven planning. His own practice leaned into choreography, experience, and process (from plazas to landscapes), often using workshops and “scores” to capture how people move and gather. The quote defends a middle path: participatory enough to be humane, disciplined enough to be coherent.
It also reveals an ethic of authorship: “accepting your vision” isn’t ego, it’s accountability. Halprin is arguing that shared projects require a clear creative center - not because the public is incapable, but because someone has to hold the whole.
Quote Details
| Topic | Team Building |
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