Richard A. Vignolo

Richard A. Vignolo, a prominent landscape architect whose gardens have adorned important buildings in the United States and abroad, died Monday, May 28, 2012, at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco following a massive stroke. He was 85.

Lauded by clients for his "incredible taste and integrity," fellow professionals praised their colleague's over half-century-long career, noting that Vignolo-designed landscapes have embellished structures around the world--some created independently, some in association with the late landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and some in collaboration with major architectural firms..

During a 21-year-long association with Halprin's office, where he was design principal and vice president of the firm, Mr. Vignolo designed the master plan and landscaping for the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem and the Benjamin Franklin Hall (now known as the Congress Hall) in Berlin, Germany.

Also with the Halprin firm, Mr. Vignolo designed gardens and open spaces for these institutions of higher learning: California State University in Sonoma County; University of Washington in Seattle; University of British Columbia in Vancouver; the University of Victoria in British Columbia; the new campus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; and, from his own independent firm, that of Merritt College in Oakland.

Mr. Vignolo also worked with Halprin's office on the Nicollet Transit Mall in Minneapolis, the Science Pavilion at the Seattle World Fair of 1962, Cedar-Riverside New Town in Minneapolis, the Virginia Museum of Art Sculpture Garden in Richmond, Va., the Fairmont Hotel roof garden in San Francisco, as well as 16 regional shopping centers in Indiana, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Texas and California.

After establishing his independent practice in San Francisco in 1972, leading architectural firms repeatedly asked Mr. Vignolo to collaborate with them on their own projects. In San Francisco, examples of such associations include Skidmore Owings & Merrill's new Federal Reserve Bank on Market Street and the 333 Bush Street Tower.

Elsewhere in California, Mr. Vignolo conceived outdoor settings for Carmel Plaza in consultation with developer Gerson Bakar; the Vallejo City Hall in association with architects Marquis and Associates; Siefert Community Center in Stockton, which was also with the Marquis firm; and the Spanish Bay Townhouses in Pebble Beach in collaboration with the firm of Esherick Homsey Dodge & Davis.

Again in association with Skidmore Owings & Merrill, he designed landscaping for Hughes Aircraft headquarters in Los Angeles.

Vignolo designs were also integrated into grounds of the Kennedy Library at California State University at San Luis Obispo, the Graduate Theological Union Library in Berkeley, a Stern Hall Addition at UC Berkeley, and at Stanford University in Palo Alto the History Corner and Braun Music Center on the Main Quad..

Less well known among Vignolo works are estate gardens whose owners sought Mr. Vignolo's services for adorning their homes in the Bay Area, in Napa, in Santa Barbara, in California's Central Valley and in Dallas.

Mr. Vignolo repeatedly lent his talents to various projects in Texas, chiefly the still-flourishing NorthPark Center along with an adjacent office park in Dallas; One Ferris Plaza Office Tower in Dallas; a master landscape plan for Texas A and M University in College Station; the Blue Cross Office Campus at Richardson; the Nueces County Administrative and Judicial Center in Corpus Christi as well as several banks and office buildings elsewhere in that state.

In appraising factors that led to Mr. Vignolo's success, colleagues in the design fraternity tend to cite both the quality of his work as well as what they repeatedly termed his "intellectual integrity."

"I would put him into the top range of American landscape architects," said UC Berkeley Professor Richard C. Peters. "He was wonderfully gifted and talented."

Onetime Halprin office associate Peter Walker, former chairman of the Landscape Architecture Department at Harvard University, described Mr. Vignolo as "the cerebral and most cultured member of the (Halprin) firm." Not only were Mr. Vignolo's concepts "distinguished," but, Walker added, they reflected that "He was always very well read and well traveled."

"He really understood the history of landscape architecture," said architect George Homsey. In evaluating the essence of Mr. Vignolo's work, Homsey added that he combined an intimate knowledge of plant materials "with a classicist's concern about form, detailing and formality."

In addition, Homsey said, Mr. Vignolo "always had a sense of what was appropriate for every site."

From a client's perspective, Nancy Nasher of Dallas (the Nasher Sculpture Center there is named for her family) praised Mr. Vignolo for being "brilliant, creative, precise" and for having "incredible taste, design sense and integrity."

Noting that her family-owned shopping mall, NorthPark Center has won "numerous design awards over the years," Mrs. Nasher suggested that this was largely due to Mr. Vignolo's role from its inception as planner, manager and coordinator. She added that Mr. Vignolo was personally "involved in the creation of the Center's interior fountains and landscaping" including a planter which, she noted, is so appealing to youngsters that it continues to "attract children who use it to slide upon."

A descendent of pioneer California families, Mr. Vignolo was born in Stockton, Calif., on April 24, 1927 to Aaron and Ada Vignolo. He attended Stockton schools and the University of California at Berkeley where he received a bachelors of science degree in landscape architecture. Later, he received a master's degree from Harvard's Graduate School of Design, following which he was awarded a Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship for travel and study in Europe.

A veteran of World War II, Mr. Vignolo is survived by cousins Thomas and Jean Burns of Stockton, Barbara Russell of Arnold and Myra Algots of Oakhurst.

Funeral services are to be held at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco at 10:00 AM on June 12 and also at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton at 10:00 AM on June 15.

Contributions in Mr. Vignolo's memory may be sent to St. Anthony's Foundation, 150 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco 94139-3719, or St. Mary's Interfaith Community Services, 545 W. Sonora, Stockton 95203.