Michael Painter

Michael Painter (1935 - 2018) was an American landscape architect and urban designer based in San Francisco, California.

He was a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

His most notable project is the Presidio Parkway, a roadway through the Presidio National Park from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Other notable projects include the John F. Kennedy Grave Site at Arlington National Cemetery, the Great Highway/Ocean Beach Re-Construction in San Francisco, Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park, the College of San Mateo, Twin Peaks overlook in San Francisco, Hunter's Point Hilltop Park in San Francisco, AT&T Administrative Center in San Ramon, Lafayette Park and the Blair House in Washington D.C., Aquatic Park in Berkeley, Hennepin Center in Minneapolis, State Compensation Insurance Fund in San Francisco, Genentech Campus in South San Francisco, the HP Corporate Headquarters in Palo Alto, and the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey.

Michael Painter was born in Pasadena, California, son of Lillias Armour Painter and John Guy Painter.

As a child during World War II, he tended the home “Victory garden,” which included vegetables and ornamental plants.

At twelve years old he began working in the summer as the assistant of a Mr. Poland, a landscape maintenance person working in Pasadena and Altadena residential gardens.

Mr. Poland introduced the idea of becoming a landscape architect.

Painter's first design project was a new garden for his parents' home.

Jacques Hahn and Chuck Hoffman of the firm Hahn and Hoffman, Painter's summer employers between 1950 and 1955, suggested the Landscape Architecture program at the University of California, Berkeley.

They had met in 1955 at Laguna Beach, California.

After finishing college, the two married and moved to San Francisco.

Their first home was in Lucas Valley, Marin County, north of San Francisco.

While attending the University of California, Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, his instructor Mai Arbegast recommended Painter to the Lawrence Halprin office as a student intern, where he worked for two years starting in 1956.

At the Halprin firm, Painter was involved with projects such as the Stanford Shopping Center, the consulate in Fukuoka Japan, enhancements to UC Berkeley and Davis campuses, and the Baptist Seminary in Mill Valley, California.

On the Baptist Seminary project he served as project manager, interacting with the project architects, John Carl Warnecke and Associates.

In 1958, Painter jointed the Warnecke firm to start a landscape architecture section.

There he worked on projects such as the Del Monte Shopping Center, Asilomar, the Hawaiian State Capitol, and the UC Santa Cruz master plan.

Michael Painter married Margaret Susan Collins in 1959.

In 1961 he was made an associate of the firm, and in 1964, a partner.

He left briefly to work with landscape architect Peter Walker, then returned to the Warnecke firm.

In 1961 Painter began working with the Warnecke Washington, D. C. office on projects such as the Kennedy gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, Lafayette Park, the Georgetown Library, the Blair House garden, and the master plan for the Naval Academy campus at Annapolis.

Painter created the design direction of the Kennedy gravesite project.

In 1964 they moved to a home they had bought in Mill Valley, California, where Painter lived the rest of his life.

In 1965, Warnecke proposed that Painter attend Harvard University to study urban design.

Painter continued to manage the landscape team during the year long Masters program at Harvard.

Following graduation, Painter spent the summer in Washington D.C. to refine the Kennedy Grave design and supervise construction.

Bunny Mellon, a close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy, helped with the design and consulted on plant materials.

After returning to San Francisco, Painter worked on projects such as the Kaiser Center for Technology, the Hilton Hotel in Tahiti, and the Monterey Custom House redevelopment.

Daughter Melissa Painter was born in 1968 and son Joshua Painter was born in 1971.

Designing new landscape plans for his home and doing the construction at the Mill Valley residence was a lifelong hobby.

In 1969 he left the Warnecke firm to establish Michael Painter & Associates.

He continued to work with the Warnecke firm on projects such as the Pasadena Center as well as with other architects.

Another civic project, the redesign of San Francisco’s Great Highway/Ocean Beach, was begun in 1977 and was completed in 1988.

Painter served on the San Francisco Architectural Heritage Board, the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Advisory Committee (SPUR), San Francisco's Friends of Recreation and Parks, the San Francisco Landscape Garden Show, the Exploratorium science museum board, and the Presidio Historical Association.

In 1984 the firm name was changed to MPA Design.

Painter's interest in large, complex projects, his exposure to city planning with Vernon DeMars at Berkeley, as well as his graduate studies at Harvard, set the direction for his firm’s work on civic and educational projects, corporate campuses, parks, and playgrounds.

Painter learned from elementary school teachers about the possibility of designing play structures that could address children's learning differences.

He worked closely with the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department on a number of projects.

He was named a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1987.