Dream of the Sea Ranch
A 56 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY FILMBY ZARA MUREN ASLA 1994The land-responsive community design of The Sea Ranch in the nineteen sixties challenged conventions for the development of new towns. Widely acclaimed internationally, The Sea Ranch was copied, studied and followed through the long years of its becoming.
The concept of The Sea Ranch was generated by a diversely talented team through an intensive year long planning and design process, creating an environmental design that was both fitting in its response to the site and inspiring in its originality.
Plan for Phase 1 Lawrence Halprin 1964
Dream of The Sea Ranch shows the guiding 'dream' of the new town: that development could take place in such a way as to enhance, rather than impact, the health and beauty of the land. This fine and compelling vision is seen in the work of the initial team at the 10 mile long coastal site in North California. In depth on-camera interviews with developer/ architect Al Boeke, landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and architects Joseph Esherick and Charles Moore, are interspersed with shots of their models and drawings and scenes showing their realized schemes.
Hedgerow Houses Concept Joseph Esherick 1965
Condominium Courtyard Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitacker 1965
Moonraker Swim Club Moore Lyndon Turnbull Whitacker 1966
The documentary goes on to explore how the reality has diverged from the dream in succeeding years, in the face of political and economic pressures.
The DVD includes 27 minutes of supplementary sequences, assembled from the original interviews and landscape photography by Zara.
"A thorough and fascinating study . . . the interviews are terrific, the panning and close-ups - the interior exposed beams of Moore's condo and the courtyard!! - and the story of a dream gone awry is very well told." Eve Kahn, Architecture Critic, Wall Street Journal
"A beautiful, instructive and melancholy film. A gentle, eloquent reverie on the relationship between manmade structures and the natural world, and on the difficulty of sustaining the idea of community at the present time." Vincent Scully, Prof. Emeritus of Art History, Yale University
"'Dream of The Sea Ranch' is a film made with professional skill combined with knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. There are many personal pieces of dialogue that illustrate how great architects like Halprin, Moore and Esherick think and work." Michael Laurie, Prof. of Landscape Architecture, U.C. Berkeley
Zara Muren interview, 2008
