Cornelia Hahn Oberlander LL.D. (20 June 1921 – 22 May 2021) was a German-born Canadian

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

. Her firm, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Landscape Architects, was founded in 1953, when she moved to Vancouver. During her career she contributed to the designs of many high-profile buildings in both Canada and the United States, including the

Robson Square Robson Square is a landmark civic centre and public plaza, located in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the site of the Law Courts (Vancouver), Provincial Law Courts, University of British Columbia, UBC Robson Square, government offi ...

and the

Law Courts A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts genera ...

Complex in Vancouver, the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

, the Canadian Chancery in Washington D.C., the Library Square at the

Vancouver Public Library Vancouver Public Library (VPL) is the public library system for the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2023, VPL had more than 4.6 million visits with patrons borrowing nearly 10.4 million items including: books, ebooks, CDs, DVDs, video gam ...

, the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, and Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Building in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

Family and early life

Oberlander was born at Muelheim-Ruhr, Germany, the daughter of Beate Hahn (née Jastrow) and Franz Hahn. She was the niece of educationalist

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886 – 14 December 1974) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the U ...

, the founder of Schule Schloss Salem in Germany,

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

in Scotland, and UWC Atlantic College in the UK; as well as the niece of Elisabeth Jastrow, the German-born American classical archaeologist. A horticulturist who wrote gardening books for children, Beate Hahn fostered in her daughter a deep love and appreciation for nature from a young age. Since she had a garden bed when she was four years old and planted peas and corn, she knew the joy of growing. In an interview with Mechtild Manus, tracing the roots of her interests in landscape architecture, Oberlander stated:

"At the age of eleven... I studied a mural in the artist's studio showing the
river Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...
and an imaginary town. When I asked the artist about the green spaces in this mural, she told me that these were parks. When I came home, I told my mother 'I want to make parks'. From there all my education was directed towards becoming a landscape architect."

When Oberlander was 18, being Jewish, her sister, her mother, and she escaped Nazi persecution after the "''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

''" (Night of Broken Glass)

pogrom A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...

in 1938 by fleeing to England. They emigrated to the United States in 1939. Her mother had a truck farm in

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

during the war, which Oberlander worked on. She had come to America with the hopes of exploring the professional educational opportunities that involved the creation of parks and green spaces, and pursued that objective in American colleges.

Higher education and later life

In 1944 Oberlander was awarded a BA degree from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

and, in 1947, she was among the first class of women awarded degrees in landscape architecture by

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

. In her interview with Jenny Hall she stated, "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 The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

." She met her future husband,

Peter Oberlander H. Peter Oberlander, (November 29, 1922 – December 27, 2008) was a Canadian architect and Canada's first professor of Urban and Regional Planning. Early life and education Born in Vienna, Austria, he settled in Britain with his family aft ...

at a class picnic. Born in Vienna, he also had fled with his family from the Nazis in 1938. He was awarded a Ph.D. in regional planning from Harvard. Oberlander began work with

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

and Oscar Stonorov in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and then with landscape architect Dan Kiley in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. She married her husband in 1953. They moved to Vancouver and had three children. Her husband's professional career was as an architect and as Canada's first professor of Urban and Regional Planning. She founded a small landscape architecture firm in Vancouver. Oberlander then became interested in the modern art movement led by B. C. Binning and Ned Pratt, which combined art and architecture to address the connections between urbanism and surrounding natural settings. The early years of Oberlander's independent practice were dedicated to designing landscapes for low-income housing projects and playgrounds, the most famous of which is the Canadian Government Pavilion, Children's Creative Centre and play area for

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

in Montreal.Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Fonds
Retrieved 14 April 2020. Her first playground, for a 1951 public housing project for architect

, included a vegetable garden and a fruit tree. For public housing in Maclean Park, she designed a playground. On Skeena Terrace, on the

Lougheed Highway Lougheed is an Irish variant of a surname of Scottish origins, meaning ''head of the lake''. Lougheed or Loughead may refer to: Places * Lougheed, Alberta, a Canadian village * Lougheed Island, Nunavut, Canada * Lougheed Highway, part of British ...

, she included vegetable gardens. She later practiced on a more commercial scale, working with architects and other professionals from various disciplines to create aesthetic solutions for challenging projects. Before beginning a project she researched it thoroughly to ensure that her innovative schemes would be practical and long-lasting. Oberlander always approached a project from an environmental standpoint. In her Convocation Address for the acceptance of an honorary degree from

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

she stated: Her concern for the environment and for people in general, was further exemplified by her involvement with the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or "Mount Syenite") is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Jerusalem. Between the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

. Oberlander and her husband, Peter, visited Israel for a congress with the International Federation of Landscape Architects in 1962. According to 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 for the restoration of historic buildings on the campus. The Oberlanders were honored for their contributions by the Vancouver chapter of Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004 and they visited Israel many times in their philanthropic efforts. Oberlander received the "rare and exceptional honour" of being elected to both the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects' College of Fellows (in 1981) and the American Society of Landscape Architects' Council of Fellows (in 1992). In 1999–2000, she contributed her expertise to the Vancouver Art Gallery for its "Out of This Century" exhibition, guiding patrons through the selection of visual art pieces that were chosen from the permanent collection of the gallery (by Oberlander and five other Vancouverites) to reflect and represent the city art scene through the decades. In 2018, she completed a redesign of the

's Fred & Elizabeth Fountain Garden Court. She also had designed its predecessor. Peter Oberlander died on 27 December 2008.

Death

Cornelia Oberlander died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

on 22 May 2021 during the

COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia The COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia formed part of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 ...

, one month shy of her 100th birthday.

Awards and honours

* 1981, Fellow,

Canadian Society of Landscape Architects The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (; CSLA-AAPC) is the national organization representing 1600 List of landscape architects, landscape architects in Canada's ten provinces and three territories. The organization was founded in 1934. Its m ...

* 1990 Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

* 1991 Honorary law degree,

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

* 1992, Fellow,

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship. ...

* 1992 Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada * 1995 Allied Medal,

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada The Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC) is a not-for-profit, national organization that has represented architects and architecture for over 100 years, in existence since 1907. The RAIC is the leading voice for excellence in the built ...

* 1997 - Granted an honorary membership in the Architectural Institute of British Columbia * 2001 Honorary law degree,

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

* 2002 Honorary law degree,

* 2004 Honoree of Canadian Friends of the

fundraising gala * 2005 Honorary law degree,

* 2006 - The

Canadian Centre for Architecture The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA; ) is a Architecture museum, museum of architecture and research centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 1920, rue Baile (1920, Baile Street), between rue Fort (Fort Street) and rue Saint-Ma ...

held an exhibition ''Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Ecological Landscapes'', which featured material from the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Archive at the CCA and photographs by Etta Gerdes. * 2008 Honorary law degree,

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

* 2008 Honorary law degree,

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

* 2009 Officer of the

* 2011 Awarded the Sir

Geoffrey Jellicoe Sir Geoffrey Alan Jellicoe (8 October 1900 – 17 July 1996) was an English architect, town planner, landscape architect, garden designer, landscape and garden historian, lecturer and author. His strongest interest was in landscape and gar ...

Award of the International Federation of Landscape Architects * 2012 Awarded the American Society of Landscape Architects Medal * 2014 Honorary law degree,

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

* 2015 Margolese National Design for Living Prize * 2015 - Included in Chatelaine Magazine's ''Women of the year: 30 Canadians who rocked 2015'' listing. * 2016 Inaugural recipient of the Governor General's Medal in Landscape Architecture * 2016 Member of the Order of British Columbia * 2017 Companion of the Order of Canada * 2017 LAF Medal of the Landscape Architecture Foundation * 2018 - Profiled in the 2018 documentary film, '' City Dreamers'', alongside Phyllis Lambert,

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (14 December 1923 – 20 October 2022) was a British-born Canadian architect, city planner, and educator who worked mostly in Montreal and Toronto. She is known for her Modern architecture, Modernist designs, as well as ...

, and

Denise Scott Brown Denise Scott Brown (née Lakofski; born October 3, 1931) is an American architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia. Early life and education Born to Jewish parents Simon a ...

, as women who shaped the world we live in. * 2021 - First award of The Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, created by The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) to honor the works of Cornelia and her dedication to the profession of Landscape Architecture. Additionally, the TCLF named this prize in Oberlander's name to recognize her efforts to address social, environmental, and ecological issues through her design work. This prize will be awarded every other year. This is the only award in the profession of Landscape Architecture that includes a $100,000.00 prize.

Important works

Oberlander produced landscape designs for private residences, playgrounds, urban parks, and other public spaces, as well as major projects including landscaping for: * 70 playgrounds in Canada and helping to establish the National Task Force on Play * 18th and Bigler Street playground, Philadelphia * Cherokee Apartments, Philadelphia * Philadelphia International Airport landscape *

Master Plan, 1997 * Ottawa City Hall, with Moshe Safdie, 1989-1994 *

Vancouver Park Board The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, commonly referred to as the Vancouver Park Board, is the elected board with exclusive possession, jurisdiction and control over public parks in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Established by an ...

natural log seating on Vancouver beaches, 1964 *

New York Times Building The New York Times Building is a 52-story skyscraper at 620 Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets near Times Square, on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Its chief tenant is the New York Times Company, ...

atrium that includes an evergreen carpet of sedges, ferns, and several birch trees with architect

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable works include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), Kansai International Airport in Osaka (1994), the Whitney ...

and H M White Site Architects, 2002 *

botanical garden, 2004 * "green rooftop" on the Canadian embassy in Berlin, with Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects, 1999-2005 * C. K. Choi Building for the Institute of Asian Research at UBC, with Matsuzaki Wright Architects, 1996 *

, with Moshe Safdie Architects, 1995 *

Vancouver General Hospital Vancouver General Hospital (locally known as VGH, or Vancouver General) is a medical facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is the largest facility in the Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (VHHSC) group of medical facili ...

burn unit garden * Northwest Territories Legislative Building, Yellowknife, with Matsuzaki/Wright Architects, 1995 * Canadian Chancery in Washington, D.C., with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1989 *

in Ottawa, with

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...

Architects, 1988 * Co-authored ''Trees in the City'', with Ira Bruce Nadel and Lesley R. Bohm, 1977 *

Museum of Anthropology at UBC The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada displays world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations in Canada, First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well ...

, Vancouver, landscapes including its rear reflection pool, with

Arthur Erickson Arthur Charles Erickson (June 14, 1924 – May 20, 2009) was a Canadian architect and urban planning, urban planner. He studied at the University of British Columbia and, in 1950, received his B.Arch. (Honours) from McGill University. He is kn ...

Architects and Stantec Architecture, 1976 and from 2003 *

Peacekeeping Monument ''Reconciliation: The Peacekeeping Monument'' is a monument in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, commemorating Canadian peacekeeping, Canada's role in international peacekeeping and the soldiers who have participated and are currently participating, ...

, ''Reconciliation'', 1992 *

landscape architecture and stramps and the

government complex in Vancouver, with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1974–1983 and from 2003 *

VanDusen Botanical Garden VanDusen Botanical Garden is a botanical garden situated in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the Shaughnessy neighborhood. It is located at the northwest corner of 37th Avenue and Oak Street. It is named for local lumberman and philanthropist Whit ...

, with architect Peter Busby, Visitors Center project, with

Perkins and Will Perkins&Will is a global design practice founded in 1935. Since 1986, the group has been a subsidiary of Lebanon-based Dar Al-Handasah (Arabic: دار الهندسة). History The firm was established in Chicago by Lawrence Perkins (1907–199 ...

, 2011

Exhibitions

* Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Ecological Landscapes,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(2006) * Canadian Megaform,

(2014-2015) * New Ways of Living: Jewish Architects in Vancouver 1955-1975 (online), The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia,

(2016) * Bauhaus (Canada) 101, University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

(2020) * Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci,

Art Gallery of Alberta The Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) is an art museum in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum occupies an building at Churchill Square (Edmonton), Churchill Square in downtown Edmonton. The museum building was originally designed by Donald G. Bittor ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

(2021)

References

Sources

* Susan Herrington. ''Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Making the Modern Landscape.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2014. * Charles A. Birnbaum and Stephanie S. Foell. ''Shaping the American Landscape: New Profiles from the Pioneers of American Landscape Design Project.'' Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009. . * Kathy Stinson. ''Love Every Leaf: The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander''. Toronto: Tundra, 2008. * Mechtild Manus, Lisa Rochon. ''Picturing Landscape Architecture: Projects of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander as seen by Etta Gerdes''. Munich: Callwey / Montreal: Goethe-Institute, 2006
Oberlander
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

, 2020 * 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.
Waterfall Building Green Roof Case Study
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, January 2002 (pdf)

new link to BCSLA Web Atlas October 2013
Library Square Building aerial view

Charles Birnbaum "Oral history of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander" on August 3-5, 2008, Cultural History Project

, title=TCLF Announces Oberlander Prize

Vancouver Heritage
*

Hahn Oberlander visiting the town of her childhood, 2012.

Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (''WAZ'') is a commercial newspaper from Essen, Germany, published by Funke Mediengruppe. History and profile ''Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' was founded by Erich Brost and first published 3 April ...

, Der Westen, 12 August 2012, by Margitta Ulbricht * *

External links

* *
Finding aid for the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Fonds
at the

digitized items
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberlander, Cornelia 1921 births 2021 deaths Women landscape architects American landscape architects American people of German-Jewish descent Canadian landscape architects Canadian people of German-Jewish descent Canadian architects People from Mülheim Emigrants from Nazi Germany Immigrants to the United States Immigrants to Canada Jewish architects Smith College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni People from Vancouver Canadian Jews Companions of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of British Columbia Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada