West Coast Modern League
West Coast Modern League
  • Home
  • Events
  • Advocacy
  • Places
  • Resources
  • Watch This
  • Friends
  • Journal
  • About
  • Contact
  • Join our Mailing List
  • Donate
 
EventsWCML EventCornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci | In Conversation – 2021.01.24

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci | In Conversation – 2021.01.24

Category : Lecture, WCML Event

January 24, 2021 at 3:00pm PST

Live Online Panel Discussion
Presented by the West Coast Modern League
In partnership with the West Vancouver Art Museum

The West Coast Modern League with the West Vancouver Art Museum celebrated the visionary Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander and the opening of the museum’s new exhibition, and launch of the accompanying publication, entitled Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci. This event featured a live online panel discussion with panelists Charles Birnbaum, Amery Calvelli, Susan Herrington, and Eva Matsuzaki, moderated by Dr. Hilary Letwin.

Since establishing her Vancouver-based practice in 1953, Cornelia has practiced landscape architecture with one goal in mind: “to design outdoor spaces for the enjoyment of all in our urban environment.”[1] With this, her work has since explored a broad range of programs including urban parks, playgrounds, cultural spaces, social housing, and private residences. A key figure in the development of West Coast Modernism, some of her most notable local landscapes include the Provincial Law Courts and Robson Square (1982), the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (1976), Eppich House II (1979), Library Square (1995), and the Visitor’s Centre Rooftop, VanDusen Botanical Garden (2011). Further afield, she was responsible for landscape designs at the Children’s Creative Centre Playground, Canadian Federal Pavilion, Expo 67 (1967), Canadian Chancery in Washington, DC (1989), National Gallery of Canada (1990), and the Northwest Territories Legislative Building (1994).

Cornelia has received international acclaim in the field of landscape architecture. Among numerous other awards and honours, she is a Companion of the Order of Canada, Member of the Order of British Columbia, and a Fellow of both the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects. With a design process regarded for intensive research, innovation, and stewardship for the natural environment, Cornelia’s impact in the realms of landscape architecture is far-reaching and unparalleled.

[1] Oberlander, C.H. (2021). Forging the Way. In Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci (pp. 14-18). West Vancouver, BC: West Vancouver Art Museum. Edmonton, AB: The Art Gallery of Alberta.

 

The Panelists:

  • Charles Birnbaum – President, CEO, and Founder, The Cultural Landscape Foundation
  • Amery Calvelli – Adjunct Curator, Poole Centre of Design at the Art Gallery of Alberta
  • Susan Herrington – Professor and Chair, Landscape Program at UBC SALA
  • Dr. Hilary Letwin – Administrator/Curator, West Vancouver Art Museum
  • Eva Matsuzaki – Architect

 

*Correction: The slide of the McNab Residence, designed by Architect Duncan McNab in 1956, incorrectly notes Cornelia Hahn Oberlander as the Landscape Architect.  

 

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Perspective view for Children’s Creative Centre Playground, Canadian Federal Pavilion, Expo ’67, Montréal, Québec (1967). Dry transfer on negative photostat printed on cardboard, 91 x 114 cm. ARCH252723. Cornelia Hahn Oberlander fonds, Canadian Centre for Architecture. Gift of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, © Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

 

The West Coast Modern League gratefully acknowledges the partnership of the West Vancouver Art Museum and the generous support of the Audain Art Museum. 

 

 

                   

 

Other Links:

  • Landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander on why it should be easier to be green. Hadani Ditmars. March 8, 2021. Wallpaper* Magazine.
  • A tribute to Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the landscape architecture who shaped Vancouver’s green spaces. Hadani Ditmars. February 9, 2021. The Art Newspaper.
  • West Vancouver Museum opens exhibition on eminent landscape architect. Elisia Seeber. January 30, 2021. North Shore News.
  • Landscape Architect Cornelia Oberlander gets her due. Hadani Ditmars. April 15, 2014. Maclean’s Magazine.

For Comments & Inquiries:
Please email [email protected]

Follow us:
Instagram / Facebook / Twitter


About the Exhibition

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci

West Vancouver Art Museum
680 17th Street, West Vancouver, BC
January 20, 2021 – March 13, 2021
Curated by Amery Cavelli and Dr. Hilary Letwin

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander is among the most eminent landscape architects in the world, known for many projects in Canada and abroad. Genius Loci, meaning the protective spirit of a place, is embodied in the seven decade span of her work. Her landscape designs demonstrate her desire to create terrains that are less an interruption and more an amplification of what already exists on a site. Her training in modernist design and a desire to connect people with nature is immediately apparent in her landscapes. At a time when our relationship to the earth is of paramount importance, Oberlander’s projects reveal consistent and significant stewardship of the natural environment. Many of her designs—even those from 50 years ago—remain largely unchanged, testaments to her technical skill, research techniques, and judicious selection of flora.

This bilingual French and English exhibition introduces projects by Oberlander, which are presented in four sections devoted to playgrounds, social housing, public projects, and residential projects, showing photography of the places alongside her sketches, plans, and research proposals. A publication of the same name has been produced, with contributions by Oberlander and the exhibition curators, Susan Herrington and Eva Matsuzaki.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci is organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta and the West Vancouver Art Museum, and curated by Amery Calvelli and Dr. Hilary Letwin, with contributions from the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander fonds – Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. Presented at the Art Gallery of Alberta as part of the Poole Centre of Design. Funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage, Government of Canada, with additional support at the West Vancouver Art Museum by British Pacific Properties Limited, Enns Gauthier Landscape Architects, and SaveMore Plumbing and Lighting Limited.

 

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander was born in 1921 in Germany and moved to the United States in 1939. She studied at Smith College in Massachusetts and, in 1944, continued her studies at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. After completing her studies in 1947, she designed her first projects in New York City and Philadelphia. In 1953, she moved to Vancouver and undertook a number of residential, social housing, and playground projects. From the early 1970s, she began collaborating with Arthur Erickson, working with him on the Robson Square Provincial Government Complex and the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. She continues to create designs for universities, governments, schools, and private residences.

Oberlander has been the recipient of many honours, including the Companion of the Order of Canada and the highest award from both the American Society of Landscape Architects and the International Federation of Landscape Architects. The Cultural Landscape Foundation has recently announced the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize. The Oberlander Prize, along with a monetary award of $100,000 USD, will be conferred biennially, beginning in 2021.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, 2008. Courtesy of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

 

West Vancouver Art Museum

The West Vancouver Art Museum is operated by the District of West Vancouver. The Art Museum fosters awareness and understanding of art, architecture and design through its collection, publications, exhibitions and educational programs. The art museum highlights important creators, innovators and significant events that shape the community, region and country.

westvancouverartmuseum.ca

 


About the Panelists

Charles Birnbaum

Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR, is the president, CEO, and founder of The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF). Prior to creating TCLF, Birnbaum spent fifteen years as the coordinator of the National Park Service Historic Landscape Initiative (HLI) and a decade in private practice in New York City, with a focus on landscape preservation and urban design.

Amery Calvelli

Amery Calvelli works to advance the public connection with architecture and design. Since 2018, as Adjunct Curator, Poole Centre of Design at the Art Gallery of Alberta, she has curated and co-curated exhibitions including: Cul-de-Sac, From Here Convening Place, another Landscape show and Nests for the End of the World. Co-founding the non-profit Design Talks Institute seven years ago, she produces public events, small exhibitions, workshops and an online publication with the aim of building community around architecture and design.

Susan Herrington

Susan Herrington is Professor and Chair of the Landscape Architecture program at the University of British Columbia. Herrington is a licensed landscape architect in the United States and a Landscape Architect in Canada. Her research concerns design theories of contemporary landscape architecture, including theories regarding children’s landscapes. In 2016, she received the 2016 Anne de Fort-Menares Award for her article, “Restoring a Modern Landscape in the Anthropocene: Cornelia Hahn Oberlander,” on the Friedman Residence. She received a 2015 John Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize for her book, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Making the Modern Landscape. She has conducted research with funding from the Graham Foundation, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and in Germany with support from the German Academic Exchange and in Cambridge, Massachusetts as a visiting researcher at Harvard University. She is author of Landscape Theory in Design and she is currently writing a book on the Canadian-born landscape architect and city planner, Christopher Tunnard.

Dr. Hilary Letwin

Hilary Letwin is the Administrator/Curator at the West Vancouver Art Museum. She received her PhD from The Johns Hopkins University in Art History in 2014. Over the last decade, she has curated exhibitions at the West Vancouver Art Museum, the Burnaby Art Gallery, the Richmond Art Gallery, the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, the Seymour Art Gallery and has held curatorial fellowships at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the British Museum. Recent curatorial projects and publications include The Eyes Have Walls: Nicole Ondre and Mina Totino, Saints, Sinners and Souvenirs: Italian Masterworks on Paper, and Molly Lamb Bobak: Talk of the Town. Letwin is co-curator of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Genius Loci.

Eva Matsuzaki

Now a retired architect, Eva Matsuzaki, was born in Riga, Latvia, then immigrated to the United States in the wake of World War ll. She graduated from Cornell University in 1966 with a B.Arch., one of two women in a class of forty. After six years of working in Connecticut, Eva and her husband, Kiyoshi Matsuzaki, moved to Vancouver, B.C. There she worked at Arthur Erickson Architects for a decade before forming Matsuzaki Wright Architects with Jim Wright. Eva was a founder of Women in Architecture Vancouver, sat on numerous civic and architectural committees and boards. In 1998-1999 she was the first female president of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

 

 
Join our Mailing List

Follow us on Instagram
In its current state, the Challier House admittedl In its current state, the Challier House admittedly presents many challenges. With a considerable investment, it has potential. Back in its day, the design exuded modern elegance and a gentle insertion into its cliffside setting. It has a natural sophistication in its bones.

Of the design, “the steep and rocky site presented a challenge to architect Jim Tettamanti. The easiest part was the front thirty feet. Behind this was a dome of rock. Tettamanti came up with an open-V floor plan that angled to the view, and placed the entrance and bedroom wing parallel to the road on a shallow stone foundation. The other arm of the V extended over the hill and provided a recreation room on the lower level opening to the extensive concrete deck and swimming pool. From the road the low-level, flat-roof house presents a modest profile with few windows. On the view side, however, the V-shaped plan exposes the spacious indoor and outdoor living areas to one of the finest setting in the Lower Mainland.”[1]
__
Challier House, 1961
West Vancouver, BC
Designed by James R. Tettamanti
Landscape by Raoul Robillard

MLS #R2813421

[1/Images] Western Homes & Living. May 1964.

Link in bio for MODERN WEST COAST PLACES, the League's ongoing survey of modern west coast buildings + projects
.
.
.
.
.
#westcoastmodern #modernhouse #midcenturymodern #midcenturymoderndesign #cliffhouse #poolwithaview #modern #architecture #modernarchitecture #vancouverarchitecture #vanarch #canadianarchitecture #iconichouses #heritagehouse #modernheritage #fixerupper #architecturelovers #archilovers #artarchitecture #westvancouver #britishcolumbia #herbertchallier #jamestettamanti #raoulrobillard #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
Behind every modern house is a story more interest Behind every modern house is a story more interesting than any fiction could tell, and while this house has certainly seen better days, its history is storied. Known as the Challier House, it was originally built in 1961 and, while Challier was himself an architect, the home was designed by James R. Tettamanti with landscape by Raoul Robillard. 

Herbert Challier was a graduate of UBC architecture and would go on to work for McCarter Nairne before establishing his own private practice based first in Yaletown and eventually out of this home. Over his career, Challier had a history of working on theatre designs and is credited for designing Grouse Mountain's "Theatre in the Sky." He was also a varsity rower and a skier on the Whistler Ski Patrol. 

This was not Herb Challier's first home on the North Shore. The Challier family originally lived in a forested subdivision, leaving for this oceanview home when suburbia engulfed the surrounding forest. Their 1951 home was one of the original Neoteric houses, designed by none other than Fred Hollingsworth.

Challier House is currently on the market and, with an enthusiastic owner and a healthy budget, it could go on to be a stunning home for future generations. 
__
Challier House, 1961
West Vancouver, BC
Designed by James R. Tettamanti
Landscape by Raoul Robillard

MLS #R2813421

[Images 2-4] Courtesy of Sam McColl

Link in bio for MODERN WEST COAST PLACES, the League's ongoing survey of modern west coast buildings + projects
.
.
.
.
.
#westcoastmodern #modernhouse #midcenturymodern #midcenturymoderndesign #cliffhouse #poolwithaview #modern #architecture #modernarchitecture #vancouverarchitecture #vanarch #canadianarchitecture #iconichouses #heritagehouse #modernheritage #fixerupper #architecturelovers #archilovers #artarchitecture #westvancouver #britishcolumbia #herbertchallier #jamestettamanti #raoulrobillard #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
"Located at the centre of the Fraser Valley, the a "Located at the centre of the Fraser Valley, the agricultural hub of southwestern BC, the college features the School of Horticulture, as well as many vocational, academic, career and special education programs. The campus seeks to establish a relationship between its role as a place of learning and community interaction and its rural setting. The heart of campus is the central agora, a gathering space focused on the historic Wark/Dumais House and orchard and the wetlands of Logan Creek. Radiating outward are the college buildings, teaching gardens (including an insect garden!), parking and the school's greenhouses."[1]
__
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 1993
Langley, BC
Designed by Barry Downs with
Ron Beaton & Glenn Burwell (Downs/Archambault & Partners)
Landscape by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

[1] Barry Downs: Melding Architecture with Landscape (2013). West Vancouver Art Museum.

Link in bio for MODERN WEST COAST PLACES, the League’s ongoing survey of modern west coast buildings and projects
.
.
.
.
.
#modernarchitecture #modernism #modern #architecture #modernlandscape #campusarchitecture #universitycampus #vancouvermodern #vancouverarchitecture #vanarch #landscapearchitecture #modernbuilding #design #iconicbuildings #kwantlenpolytechnicuniversity #kwantlencollege #architecturelovers #archilovers #barrydowns #barrydownsarchitect #corneliahahnoberlander #downsarchambault #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
Aside from being places of learning, campuses them Aside from being places of learning, campuses themselves have an intimate impact on the psyche of their students and educational outcomes. As campuses return to being busy hives of activity, we turn our attention to a few campuses, beginning with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Langley Campus. Coompleted in 1993, KPU Langley was designed by Barry Downs, with Ron Beaton and Glenn Burwell (Downs/Archambault and Partners) with landscape by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. As the home of the university’s School of Horticulture, the architecture was designed to integrate with its pastoral setting. “Architecturally, the complex, although collegiate in character and constructed with tan brick, exposed concrete columns and grey metal sheathing, is intended to recall the muted colours of indigenous plantings, the wetland’s clay soil and the old industrial and farm structures of the valley. Varied tree species and the plantings of wildflowers and native grasses both address the college’s active horticultural program and, at the same time, weave the most structured ground areas–next to campus buildings–with the lush natural environment of Logan Creek.”[1] 
__
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 1993
Langley, BC
Designed by Barry Downs with
Ron Beaton & Glenn Burwell (Downs/Archambault & Partners)
Landscape by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

[1] Barry Downs: Melding Architecture with Landscape (2013). West Vancouver Art Museum. 

Link in bio for MODERN WEST COAST PLACES, the League’s ongoing survey of modern west coast buildings and projects
.
.
.
.
.
#modernarchitecture #modernism #modern #architecture #modernlandscape #campusarchitecture #universitycampus #vancouvermodern #vancouverarchitecture #vanarch #landscapearchitecture #modernbuilding #design #iconicbuildings #kwantlenpolytechnicuniversity #kwantlencollege #architecturelovers #archilovers #barrydowns #barrydownsarchitect #corneliahahnoberlander #downsarchambault #modernwestcoastplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
Originally founded in 2013, this 2023-24 season ma Originally founded in 2013, this 2023-24 season marks our 10th, and we're excited to share with you our upcoming lineup of events, programs, and initiatives. Thank you for your continued support and, if you haven't already, please join our community! 

Follow us here and subscribe to our mailing list for our latest projects and announcements (link in bio). 
__
The West Coast Modern League (WCML/The League) is a leading voice for modern architecture + design on Canada's west coast. We are an independent, non-profit society that celebrates, and advances the understanding and appreciation of, architecture, urbanism, and design of the North American west coast, with a special focus on the southern coastal regions of British Columbia. We are driven by the vanguard of the West Coast Modern movement, inspired by its distinctive culture, and energized by the future of modern design across our region.
.
.
.
.
.
#westcoastmodern #westcoastmodernism #westcoastmodernarchitecture #westcoastmodernliving #westcoastdesign #architecture #modern #modernarchitecture #modernlandscape #landscapearchitecture #midcenturymodern #midcenturymoderndesign #alliedarts #vancouverarchitecture #vanarch #architecturelovers #archilovers #canadianarchitecture #canadamodern #pnwarchitecture #pacificnorthwest #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan
MODERNISM ELSEWHERE | Even under a thick cloak of MODERNISM ELSEWHERE | Even under a thick cloak of dreadful wildfire smoke, the Heating & Cooling Plant at the University of Regina stands as a ray of light. Designed by prairie architect Clifford Weins, the building was constructed to house the central heating and cooling infrastructure for the university campus. Trevor Boddy exclaims that "[Clifford] understood the prairie landscape and how important the skies are and the horizon and constantly worked with those."

Graham Livesey described the building as “most indicative of his architecture in that it is seemingly straightforward, yet intricate in execution; its bold shape is reminiscent of both iconic Indigenous and agricultural forms.”
__
Heating & Cooling Plant
University of Regina
Regina, SK
Designed by Clifford Weins
.
.
.
.
.
#modernismelsewhere #universityofregina #cliffordwiens #canadianarchitect #canadianarchitect #modernarchitecture #midcenturymodern #modern #architecture #architectureheritage #iconicbuildings #artarchitecture #architecturelovers #modernheritage #saskatchwan #modernplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

© 2023 West Coast Modern League. All rights reserved.
Reframe Plus by Northeme. Powered by WordPress
  • Home
  • Events
  • Advocacy
  • Places
  • Resources
  • Watch This
  • Friends
  • Journal
  • About
  • Contact
  • Join our Mailing List
  • Donate