Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. 20 June 1921 – 22 May 2021
Landscape architecture icon Cornelia Hahn Oberlander at her house in Vancouver. (Credit: Chanel Blouin)
IFLA is greatly saddened to hear of the passing of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.
Cornelia made an outstanding contribution to Landscape Architecture through her life-long commitment to the profession. Her achievement in all aspects of landscape architecture – landscape planning, landscape research, landscape design and landscape management was outstanding. It was this work which led her to being the awardee of the IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in 2011, the highest honour that IFLA can bestow on a Landscape Architect
Born in Muelheim-Ruhr, Germany she immigrated to the United States as a child with her mother and sisters Cornelia eventually made Canada her home. The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) have issued a comprehensive tribute to her and her legacy:
Building upon an early interest in landscape, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in 1944 and continued her studies in the Landscape Architecture Program at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, graduating in 1947 as one of its first female landscape architects. Schooled at Harvard during the tenure of architect Walter Gropius, and later employed at Dan Kiley’s studio in Charlotte, Vermont, she embraced modernist ideas and values that encouraged collaboration across disciplines – a concept that became an Oberlander hallmark.
Cornelia has been concerned for the public’s welfare throughout her career. In the early 1950s, she worked as a community planner for the Citizens’ Council on City Planning and on public housing projects with architects Oskar Stonorov and Louis Kahn. In 1953, she moved to Vancouver, B.C. and continued her work in public landscapes, including designing the Children’s Creative Center for Expo 67 in Montreal. The Expo 67 commission led to her participation in the creation of national playground guidelines and the design of more than seventy playgrounds across Canada.
In the 1960s, Cornelia founded her own firm which quickly became known for collaborative, socially responsible, and environmentally thoughtful design. As part of her design process, Cornelia thoroughly researches each site on which she works and embraces new technologies to address issues of sustainability and climate change. Her belief that great projects stem from the integration of landscape and architecture has resulted in numerous collaborations with noted architects including Arthur Erickson, Bing Thom, Moshe Safdie and Renzo Piano. For instance, Cornelia’s more than 35-year collaboration with Arthur Erickson, Canada’s most renowned architect, resulted in many noteworthy projects in Canada and the U.S. including Vancouver’s Robson Square Provincial Government Center and Courthouse Complex, The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C.
Cornelia has practiced landscape architecture for more than sixty years and has played a seminal role in the evolution of modernism in the context of architecture, landscape architecture, and planning. Throughout her career, Cornelia has championed design that reflects a strong understanding and respect for cultural and environmental context. Many ideas hailed as groundbreaking today, such as the importance of exposure to nature and the creation of opportunities for social interaction, formed the foundation of her design philosophy decades ago. Fellow professionals deeply respect Cornelia’s mastery of the design process from development to construction. Yet when asked about her work Cornelia describes it humbly as “an evolving experiment…the art of the possible.” For more than sixty years, the creator of this “art of the possible” has been an influential leader in building places and policy that support an intimate and beautiful connection with the natural world.
Cornelia has been honoured with many prestigious awards including The Order of Canada in 1990 and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009, Canada’s highest civilian honor for outstanding achievement and service to the nation. She is a Fellow of the Canadian and the American Societies of Landscape Architects, as well as the International Federation of Landscape Architects. In 2013, she was awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects Medal, the highest honor the American Society of Landscape Architects may bestow upon a landscape architect whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of the public and the environment. In addition, Cornelia was awarded the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in 2011 from the International Federation of Landscape Architects. This award recognizes a living landscape architect whose lifetime achievements and contributions have had a unique and lasting impact on the welfare of society and the environment, and on the promotion of the profession of landscape architecture. These many awards honour Cornelia’s projects that have spanned Canada and the globe.
Read the full CSLA tribute here.