We share the news of the passing of a highly influential landscape architect. His extensive body of work will continue to inspire and leave a lasting impact. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.

Born in New York City, M. Paul Friedberg earned a B.S. in 1954 in ornamental horticulture at Cornell University. In his hometown, he established M. Paul Friedberg and Associates, now known as MPFP with Rick Parisi as the principal. Over the years, he emerged as a leading landscape architect, especially celebrated for his adventure playgrounds and public spaces. He was the founder of the landscape architecture program at City College of New York and an inspiring teacher. His colleagues describe him as a maverick, breaking the boundaries of possible, creating opportunities for minorities and joy for the city.

“He was serious about the idea of child’s play and an unrepentant believer in the virtue of cities when U.S. cities were at their nadir. He worked mostly in the public realm, which meant that everyone was his client; he knew he was responsible both to them and for them”,

said Charles Birnbaum in his remembrance.

In his long and rich career, he created a legacy of influential work. The ingenious Jacob Riis Plaza (1965) unfortunately, demolished in 2000, featured a dynamic playscape of pyramid mounds, and water elements, a “total play environment”. One of the most iconic public spaces, Peavy Plaza in Minneapolis (1975), was under the efforts of TCLF and Coen+Partners protected by the National Register of Historic Places and restored in 2019. Carver Houses, Buchanan High School and The Superblock are textbook cases of the playful spirit embodied by modularity and agility. Pershing Park and Freedom Plaza present keystones in landscape architecture modernism. Friedberg was apt to grow with changes, always reflecting on society and its needs.

His relevancy grows exponentially in proportion to the loss of quality public and inclusive spaces.

You can watch the interview and learn more about the work of Friedberg at The Cultural Landscape Foundation Oral History Series and dig into the visionary’s mind by reading Play and Interplay: A Manifesto for New Design in Urban Recreational Environment and other texts on adventurous playgrounds.

Above all, enjoy the landscapes by M. Paul Friedberg!