Cornelia Oberlander
Encyclopedia
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, OC
(born 20 June 1924) is a Canadian landscape architect
based in Vancouver
, British Columbia
. During her career she has contributed to the designs of many high-profile buildings in both Canada and the United States, including the Robson Square
and Law Courts
Complex in Vancouver, the National Gallery of Canada
, the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C., the Vancouver Public Library
, and Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Building in Yellowknife. Her firm, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, was founded in 1953.
, Germany, on June 20, 1921. In 1939, when she was 18, she and her family emigrated to the United States. Her mother, who wrote gardening books for children, fostered in her a deep love and appreciation for nature from a young age, and in a 2004 interview with Jenny Hall of the Smith Quarterly, Oberlander reported that she "never wanted to be anything else [than a landscape architect] from the time [she] was 11 years old".
In 1944 Oberlander received a BA from Smith College
, and in 1947 was among the first class of women to graduate from Harvard
with a degree in landscape architecture. In her interview with Hall she states, "When I went to Smith, women who wanted to become landscape architects went to the Cambridge School, a part of Harvard University, because at that time, women could not attend Harvard. But with the war that changed, and in 1943 I was one of the very first women to be admitted to the Harvard Graduate School of Design." Her future husband, Peter Oberlander
, received a PhD in regional planning from Harvard, and they met at a class picnic. They were married in 1953 and now have three children.
Oberlander began work with Louis Kahn
and Oscar Stonorov
in Philadelphia and then with landscape architect Dan Kiley
in Vermont before moving with her husband in 1953 to Vancouver, where she founded a small landscape architecture firm. In Vancouver, Oberlander became interested in the modern art movement led by Bertie Binning and Ned Pratt, which combined art and architecture to address the connections between urbanism and surrounding natural settings. In 1999-2000, she contributed her expertise to the Vancouver Art Gallery's Out of This Century exhibition, guiding patrons through the selection of visual art pieces that were chosen from the gallery's permanent collection (by Oberlander and five other Vancouverites) to reflect and represent the city's art scene through the decades.
The early years of Oberlander's career were dedicated to landscaping low-income housing projects and playgrounds, the most famous of which is the Children's Creative Centre for Expo 67
in Montreal. She now does landscaping on a more commercial scale, working with architects and other professionals from different disciplines to create aesthetic solutions for challenging projects. Before beginning a project she researches it thoroughly to ensure that her innovative schemes will also be practical and long-lasting. Oberlander always approaches a project from an environmental standpoint, stating in her Convocation Address for the acceptance of an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University
:
Her concern for the environment and for people in general is further exemplified by her involvement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
on Mount Scopus. Oberlander and her husband, Peter, visited Israel for a congress with the International Federation of Landscape Architects in 1962. According the Jewish Independent, the Oberlanders were in Israel to study irrigation systems but they "fell more deeply in love with the land and its people." The Oberlanders engaged in and spearheaded many activities to benefit the university from 1979 on, including: setting up a Canadian Studies Program, bringing boxes of Canadian textbooks to Israel for donation to the university, developing a botanical garden, working with a team of planners to assist the community of Ashkalon in accommodating settlers from North Africa and Georgia, and advocating the restoration of historic buildings on the campus. The Oberlanders were recently honored for their contributions by the Vancouver chapter of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004 and have visited Israel many times in their philanthropic efforts.
Hahn Oberlander has received numerous awards for her efforts in the field of landscape architecture including the Order of Canada
(1990); an honorary law degree from UBC (1991); a commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada (1992); the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Medal (1995); honoree of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem fundraising gala (2004); an honorary law degree from SFU (2005); Smith College (2002); Ryerson University (2001); McGill University (2008) Dalhousie (2008); and an honorary membership to the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.
The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), announced on June 9, 2011 that Cornelia Hahn Oberlander is the winner of the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award – the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ premier award – for 2011.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born 20 June 1924) is a Canadian landscape architect
Landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....
based in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. During her career she has contributed to the designs of many high-profile buildings in both Canada and the United States, including the Robson Square
Robson Square
Robson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza of modernist concrete, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art...
and Law Courts
Law Courts (Vancouver)
thumb|right|250px|Main Entry from Hornby and Nelson Streetsthumb|right|200px|Interior AtriumThe Law Courts building is part of the landmark Robson Square complex in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson...
Complex in Vancouver, the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
, the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C., the Vancouver Public Library
Vancouver Public Library
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
, and Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Building in Yellowknife. Her firm, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, was founded in 1953.
Life
Oberlander was born at Muelheim-RuhrMülheim
Mülheim an der Ruhr, also called "City on the River", is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen...
, Germany, on June 20, 1921. In 1939, when she was 18, she and her family emigrated to the United States. Her mother, who wrote gardening books for children, fostered in her a deep love and appreciation for nature from a young age, and in a 2004 interview with Jenny Hall of the Smith Quarterly, Oberlander reported that she "never wanted to be anything else [than a landscape architect] from the time [she] was 11 years old".
In 1944 Oberlander received a BA from Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, and in 1947 was among the first class of women to graduate from Harvard
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
with a degree in landscape architecture. In her interview with Hall she states, "When I went to Smith, women who wanted to become landscape architects went to the Cambridge School, a part of Harvard University, because at that time, women could not attend Harvard. But with the war that changed, and in 1943 I was one of the very first women to be admitted to the Harvard Graduate School of Design." Her future husband, Peter Oberlander
Peter Oberlander
Heinz Peter Oberlander, was a Canadian architect and Canada's first professor of Urban and Regional Planning.-Early life and education:...
, received a PhD in regional planning from Harvard, and they met at a class picnic. They were married in 1953 and now have three children.
Oberlander began work with Louis Kahn
Louis Kahn
Louis Isadore Kahn was an American architect, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935...
and Oscar Stonorov
Oscar Stonorov
Oscar Gregory Stonorov , was a modernist architect and architectural writer, historian and archivist who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1929.His first name is often spelled "Oskar".-Early life:...
in Philadelphia and then with landscape architect Dan Kiley
Dan Kiley
Daniel Urban Kiley was a noted American landscape architect in the modernist style.- Life and career :Kiley was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
in Vermont before moving with her husband in 1953 to Vancouver, where she founded a small landscape architecture firm. In Vancouver, Oberlander became interested in the modern art movement led by Bertie Binning and Ned Pratt, which combined art and architecture to address the connections between urbanism and surrounding natural settings. In 1999-2000, she contributed her expertise to the Vancouver Art Gallery's Out of This Century exhibition, guiding patrons through the selection of visual art pieces that were chosen from the gallery's permanent collection (by Oberlander and five other Vancouverites) to reflect and represent the city's art scene through the decades.
The early years of Oberlander's career were dedicated to landscaping low-income housing projects and playgrounds, the most famous of which is the Children's Creative Centre for Expo 67
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition or Expo 67, as it was commonly known, was the general exhibition, Category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It is considered to be the most successful World's Fair of the 20th century, with the...
in Montreal. She now does landscaping on a more commercial scale, working with architects and other professionals from different disciplines to create aesthetic solutions for challenging projects. Before beginning a project she researches it thoroughly to ensure that her innovative schemes will also be practical and long-lasting. Oberlander always approaches a project from an environmental standpoint, stating in her Convocation Address for the acceptance of an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
:
I dream of Green Cities with Green Buildings where rural and urban activities live in harmony.[...] "Achieving a fit" between the built form and the land has been my dictum. This can only be done if all our design-related professions collaborate and thereby demonstrate co-operatively their relevance in meeting the enormous developmental challenges facing our increasingly crowded urban regions.
Her concern for the environment and for people in general is further exemplified by her involvement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
on Mount Scopus. Oberlander and her husband, Peter, visited Israel for a congress with the International Federation of Landscape Architects in 1962. According the Jewish Independent, the Oberlanders were in Israel to study irrigation systems but they "fell more deeply in love with the land and its people." The Oberlanders engaged in and spearheaded many activities to benefit the university from 1979 on, including: setting up a Canadian Studies Program, bringing boxes of Canadian textbooks to Israel for donation to the university, developing a botanical garden, working with a team of planners to assist the community of Ashkalon in accommodating settlers from North Africa and Georgia, and advocating the restoration of historic buildings on the campus. The Oberlanders were recently honored for their contributions by the Vancouver chapter of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004 and have visited Israel many times in their philanthropic efforts.
Hahn Oberlander has received numerous awards for her efforts in the field of landscape architecture including the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(1990); an honorary law degree from UBC (1991); a commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada (1992); the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Allied Medal (1995); honoree of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem fundraising gala (2004); an honorary law degree from SFU (2005); Smith College (2002); Ryerson University (2001); McGill University (2008) Dalhousie (2008); and an honorary membership to the Architectural Institute of British Columbia.
The International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA), announced on June 9, 2011 that Cornelia Hahn Oberlander is the winner of the Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe Award – the International Federation of Landscape Architects’ premier award – for 2011.
Important Works
- Co-authored Trees in the City with Ira Bruce Nadel and Lesley R. Bohm, 1977
- Museum of Anthropology at UBCMuseum of Anthropology at UBCThe Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is renowned for its displays of world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations...
(with Arthur EricksonArthur EricksonArthur Charles Erickson, was a Canadian architect and urban planner. He studied Asian languages at the University of British Columbia, and later earned a degree in architecture from McGill University.-Biography:...
Architects, 1976) - C. K. Choi BuildingC. K. Choi BuildingThe C. K. Choi Building is an award-winning building recognized for its leading-edge sustainable design features. It is the University of British Columbia's "flagship environmental building" in what is calls its ‘living laboratory’, the campus used to showcase "innovative approaches to conserving...
for the Institute of Asian Research at UBC (with Matsuzaki Wright Architects, 1996) - Robson SquareRobson SquareRobson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza of modernist concrete, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Provincial Law Courts, UBC Robson Square, government office buildings, and public space connecting the newer development to the Vancouver Art...
and Law CourtsLaw Courts (Vancouver)thumb|right|250px|Main Entry from Hornby and Nelson Streetsthumb|right|200px|Interior AtriumThe Law Courts building is part of the landmark Robson Square complex in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was designed by renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson...
complex (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1974–1983) - National Gallery of CanadaNational Gallery of CanadaThe National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
(with Moshe SafdieMoshe SafdieMoshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
Architects, 1988) - Canadian Chancery in Washington, DC (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1989)
- Vancouver Public LibraryVancouver Public LibraryThe Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with more than 2.5 million items in its collections, 22 branches, approximately 375,000 cardholders, and nearly nine million item borrowings annually...
(with Moshe Safdie Architects, 1995) - Northwest Territories Legislative BuildingNorthwest Territories Legislative BuildingThe Northwest Territories Legislative Building is the home of the Government of the Northwest Territories. The most recent building was built in 1993 and commenced usage in 1994. The Government has used many permanent and temporary facilities throughout its history.The current building is two...
(with Matsuzaki/Wright Architects, 1995)
Sources
- Kathy Stinson. Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. Toronto: Tundra, 2008. ISBN 9780887768040
- Mechtild Manus and Lisa Rochon. Picturing Landscape Architecture: Projects of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander as seen by Etta Gerdes. Munich: Callwey / Montreal: Goethe-Institute, 2006. ISBN 3766716697 / 9783766716699
- Cornelia Oberlander in The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- Katharine Hamer, "A home fit for King David: Architects created a space tailored to Jewish independent school", Jewish Independent, 17 February 2006.
- Cornelia Oberlander to present new park design April 1, City of Toronto, 21 March 2003.
- Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Cartage.org: Speaker Biographies
- Waterfall Building Green Roof Case Study, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, January 2002 (pdf)
- Library Square Building Green Roof images
- Library Square Building aerial view
- Cornelia Oberlander archive at the Canadian Centre for Architecture
