IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe awarD 2024
JAMES CORNER

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT JAMES CORNER FROM THE USA IS THE 2024 RECIPIENT OF THE SIR GEOFFREY JELLICOE AWARD

The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), which represents the worldwide profession of Landscape Architecture, proudly announced that James Corner is the winner of the 2024 IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture.

The award is the preeminent award for landscape architects and the highest honour IFLA can bestow. The jury, composed of the chair, a member from each of the five IFLA regions worldwide and a guest member, agreed that

“James Corner is without question one of the most important and influential landscape architects practicing today. With his professional and theoretical work James Corner has made significant and innovative contributions to the field of landscape architecture.”

Corner´s broad range of work – from built projects to theoretical works, writings and teaching activities - has had a vast influence on the profession of landscape architecture on a global scale. He has helped to create new knowledge and new critical approaches in the profession. As a leading protagonist in the discourse on landscape urbanism and design theory and criticism, he has published numerous influential books and essays. His critical projects, contributions and the overall landscape urbanism discourse have enlivened the intellectual and cultural foundations of the profession.

James Corner is founding partner of the internationally acclaimed landscape firm Field Operations based in New York City, with offices in San Francisco, Philadelphia, London and Shenzhen. With the focus on the design of important urban public realm projects, Field Operations has realized a range of extraordinary projects mainly in North America and Asia. Among these projects, the High Line in New York City, one of the best known and most iconic, represents Corner´s visionary approach. The High Line is not just discussed and celebrated in professional circles but is also acknowledged by a wider public and thus support an understanding and appreciation of the profession of landscape architecture with the potential to change the perception of the profession as a whole. Other projects include Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York; the Presidio Tunneltops in San Francisco; Tongva Park in Santa Monica, California; Philadelphia Navy Yard; Seattle’s public waterfront; South Park at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London; Avenue of the Stars and Victoria Dockside in Hong Kong; and the  new city of Qianhai, in Shenzhen, China. Corner's design approach goes beyond aesthetics and is deeply rooted in ecological principles, community engagement, and a profound understanding of the cultural and historical context.

In addition to his canonical built works, Corner is among the most influential theorists and teachers of contemporary landscape architecture. He is Emeritus Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design, where he served on the faculty since 1990, and as Professor and Chairman 2000-2013. Over decades his publications like Taking Measures Across the American Landscape with Alex MacLean (1996), Recovering Landscape (1999), and The Landscape Imagination (2014) enriched the intellectual discourse of the profession. Furthermore, he has presented many talks and lectures around the world.  

His work has been recognized with numerous awards, most notably the ASLA Design Medal; the Richard Neutra Award for Design Excellence; the American Academy of Arts & Letters Award in Architecture, and the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award. He holds Honorary Doctorates in Design from the Technical University of Munich and Manchester Metropolitan University. His work has been exhibited at the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, the National Building Museum, the Royal Academy of Art in London, and the Venice Biennale.

“Corner is one of the great forerunners of our discipline, both in built projects and groundbreaking theoretical work.” As a passionate landscape architect and intellectual leader within the field of landscape architecture James Corner is the 2024 recipient of the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award in Landscape Architecture. The jury agreed that James Corner richly deserves the highest honour that the International Federation of Landscape Architects can bestow upon a landscape architect.

ANNOUNCEMENT 

The IFLA president, Bruno Marques, announced the award winner during the 60th IFLA World Congress in Istanbul, 4th September 2024. James presented a lecture as part of the ceremony.

THE AWARD 

The IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award is the highest honour that the International Federation of Landscape Architects can bestow upon a landscape architect. The 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. The award is bestowed annually on an academic, public or private practitioner whose work and achievements are respected internationally.

The IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award was launched in 2004 on a quadrennial basis but since 2011 it has been bestowed annually. Its inaugural recipient was Peter Walker (USA) in 2005. Since then, the previous winners are:

2023 YoungSun Jung (South Korea)

2022 Adriaan Geuze (The Netherlands)

2021 Jala M. Makhzoumi (Iraq)

2020 Kongjian Yu (China)

2019 Kathryn Gustafson (USA)

2018 Anne Whiston Spirn (USA)

2017 Dirk Sijmons (The Netherlands)

2016 Peter Latz (Germany)

2015 Mario Schjetnan (Mexico)

2014 Sun Xiao Xiang (China)

2013 Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles (Portugal))

2012 Mihály Möcsényi (Hungary)

2011 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (Canada)

2009 Bernard Lassus (France)  

2005 Peter Walker (USA)  

Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe (1910–1996), IFLA President of Honour, served IFLA as its founding President from 1948 to 1954. He was a trained architect, town planner, landscape architect and garden designer, but his prime interest was in landscape and garden design. Jellicoe was a founding member (1929) and then President of the Institute of Landscape Architects (now the Landscape Institute) and was knighted for services to Landscape Architecture in 1979. In 1994, he was given the Royal Horticultural Society’s highest award, the Victoria Medal of Honour.

The Jellicoe 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 the promotion of the profession of Landscape Architecture.

The 2024 SGJA International Jury was chaired by Peter Zöch (Austria) and included: Claudia Oñate, Americas, Anna Lambertini, Europe, Nayla Al Akl, Middle East, Yoshiki Mishima, Asia Pacific, Finzi Saidi, Africa and Hayriye Esbah Tuncay, who was the guest member of the jury.

The Secretariat for the IFLA Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award, which oversees all aspects of the award, includes Reem Alissa and Diana Wiesner and is directed by Gareth Doherty.