The Choreography of Memory: Lawrence Halprin’s Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

This analysis and critique of Lawrence Halprin’s design for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial focuses on his approach to commemoration as it was informed by a variety of sources and approaches. These include Halprin’s previous design work, historical precedents, Jungian depth psychology, and his Take Part workshops with the design team. An assessment of these sources and approaches, in turn, sheds light on Halprin’s response to the site, including his use of materials, design of space, and creation of a cinematic narrative procession utilizing sculptural images derived from photojournalism. Halprin’s design is an engaging and effective approach to commemoration. This success comes despite inherent ambiguities that arise from the period of the work’s conception, multiple interpretations, and certain spatial and representational flaws. For visitors with serious intentions befitting the memorial’s ambitious scope, it does what a memorial is supposed to do. It celebrates the values and accomplishments of past generations in crisis, and in this case, of one man at the center of that crisis, as it also challenges us to consider seriously their relevance to the tasks of the present.