McUrbia: The 1950s and the Birth of Contemporary American Landscape

In the mid-1950s there was a confluence of events that were the harbingers of dramatic changes to the American scene. We now live within a landscape that was the product of changes initiated more than three-quarters of a century ago.

Helphand’s presentation will explore seven mid-century phenomena between 1954 and 1957 that now symbolize our contemporary culture and environment, affecting us daily: the interstate highway system; McDonald’s; Disneyland; the architecture of Victor Gruen; the Boeing 707; the westward migration of the Dodgers and Giants; and the growth of suburbia.

These developments had radical and long-lasting impacts some of which were anticipated, but more often they were unforeseen. These developments are now so commonplace that we take them for granted. We live within this midcentury Modern landscape. It is all around us, yet we rarely think of how it came to be. 

Kenneth I. Helphand FASLA is Philp H. Knight Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon where he has taught courses in landscape history, theory and design since 1974. A scholar of landscape, Helphand is the author of multiple award-winning publications including Dreaming Gardens: Landscape Architecture & the Making of Modern Israel, and Lawrence Halprin. Helphand served as editor of Landscape Journal, is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, an Honorary Member of the Israel Association of Landscape Architects, and a former Chair of the Senior Fellows in Garden and Landscape Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington DC. 

$15

Things To KnowAll ages
This is an indoor activity
Wheelchair accessible
Parking and handicap parking available
Seated activity
Restrooms are available
No smoking or e-cigarettes

Important InformationModernism Week Theater is located at the south end of the hotel’s central atrium.
Ample free public parking is available. Enter underground parking at Hyatt on Palm Canyon Drive or in the multi-level public garage across from the Palm Springs Art Museum.
The organizer of this event is Modernism Week CAMP Theater Activity.

Check-in Location Modernism Week Theater At CAMP
Hyatt Palm Springs
285 N Palm Canyon Dr
Palm Springs, CA 92262View Map

Photo Credits: Kenneth Helphand {"locationAddressVisibility":"visible"}