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JournalStatementRemembering Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, 1921–2021

Remembering Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, 1921–2021

Category : Statement
Date : May 27, 2021

We join so many in our community and further afield who are mourning the passing of the incomparable Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, just short of what would have been her centenary on June 20th. Cornelia is Canada’s most renowned and celebrated Landscape Architect, a visionary, a trailblazer in her discipline, a beacon and an inspiration to generations past, present, and future, and a legend for her immeasurable contributions to the built environment and to her profession. Known for her kind and generous spirit, her love of nature and adventure, her tireless research, significant and timeless body of work, and her belief that natural outdoor spaces should be available to all, Cornelia not only created some of our most celebrated landscapes around the world but was a generous mentor who shared her learnings with so many budding designers. What Cornelia was able to accomplish in her over 70-year career is nothing short of extraordinary, and we are all the better for it.

“Landscape architecture is the art and the science of the possible.” – Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

The outpouring of sympathies, memories, and anecdotes that we have all seen over the past few days is a testament to the influence, whether direct or indirect, that she has had on countless people around the world. It is incumbent upon us to carry forward all that she has taught us.

The West Coast Modern League offers our deepest condolences to her family, friends, to those who were close to her, and to everyone who has felt the impact of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
June 20, 2021 – May 22, 2021

 

 

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (2008). Courtesy of The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

 

Landscape Architect. Trailblazer. Visionary.

Cornelia Hahn Oberlander was born on June 20, 1921 in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany. Narrowly escaping the atrocities of Nazi persecution, she fled Germany with her family in 1938, immigrating to the United States with her sister and mother, Beate Hahn, a horticulturalist. Her father, who had been an engineer, had died several years earlier caught in an avalanche while skiing.

Cornelia proclaimed that she knew at age 11 that she wanted to be a Landscape Architect, a path she formally embarked on once settled in North America. In 1944, Cornelia graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and went on to study landscape architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge – one of the first female students to attend Harvard GSD and the first, in 1947, to graduate with a degree in landscape architecture. It during this time, and in the immediate years following, that she would study with Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus School and Chair of the Department of Architecture at Harvard GSD, and work with the likes of architects Oscar Stonorov and Louis Kahn, and landscape architect Dan Kiley, among others. She would also meet her late husband, celebrated architect and planner, Heinz Peter Oberlander.

By 1953, Cornelia and Peter both relocated to the west coast, settling in Vancouver, British Columbia. Peter would take up a position as the Founding Director of Canada’s first professional School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, while Cornelia would establish her eponymous, and widely celebrated, landscape architecture practice. Both highly active in their professions and broader communities, they also raised three children, Judy, Tim, and Wendy.

Cornelia practiced landscape architecture with one goal in mind: “to design outdoor spaces for the enjoyment of all in our urban environment.”[1]  Over the course of her illustrious seven decade career, Cornelia explored a broad range of programs, from small but impactful interventions, to large urban-scale developments. Completing over 350 projects, her contributions included urban parks, children’s playgrounds, cultural spaces, social housing projects, and private residences, among others. A key pioneering figure in the development of West Coast Modernism, some of her most notable landscapes include the Provincial Law Courts and Robson Square (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1973-1984), the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1976), Eppich House II (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1983), the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch (with Moshe Safdie Architects, 1995), the Visitor’s Centre Rooftop, VanDusen Botanical Garden (with Perkins and Will, 2011), and the C.K. Choi Building at UBC (with Matsuzaki/ Wright Architects, 1996). Further afield, she was responsible for landscape designs at the Children’s Creative Centre Playground, Canadian Federal Pavilion, Expo 67 in Montreal (1967), the Canadian Chancery in Washington, DC (with Arthur Erickson Architects, 1989), the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa (with Moshe Safdie Architects, 1990), the Northwest Territories Legislative Building in Yellowknife (with Matsuzaki/ Wright Architects, 1994), and the New York Times Atrium in New York City (with Renzo Piano and HM White Site Architects, 2002).

Internationally acclaimed in the field of landscape architecture, Cornelia was named a Companion of the Order of Canada, Member of the Order of British Columbia, and Fellow of both the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects, among numerous other honours. In 2015, she received the Margolese National Design for Living Prize, from the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia. A few days prior to her passing, she was bestowed the prestigious Freedom of the City Award by her hometown, the City of Vancouver, and the year 2021 will see the inaugural awarding of the $100,000 biannual Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize, by The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

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. She leaves a mark on the profession and the collective experience of our built environment that will remain for generations to come.

 

 

Robson Square, 2021. Arthur Erickson with Cornelia Hahn Oberlander.

 

 

“I dream of Green Cities with Green Buildings where rural and urban activities live in harmony. This means community gardens, urban forests, river parks, nature reserves, woodlands, and usable Green Roofs. It means the application of old and new environmental technologies to purify wastewater, and restore waste sites with plants. It means collaboration among professionals and between the professions and industry so that building and site become one and the city fits the region. “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.” – Cornelia Hahn Oberlander[2]

 

[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.

[2] Oberlander, C.H. (2002). SFU Honourary Degree Recipients Convocation Addresses. Simon Fraser University.

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In Memoriam

  • Always two steps ahead. Daniel Roehr. June 25, 2021. Topos Magazine.
  • Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, landscape architect and environmental champion, dies at 99. Adrian Higgins. June 5, 2021. The Washington Post.
  • The Many Layers of Cornelia Oberlander’s Landscapes. Adele Weder. June 1, 2021. Azure Magazine.
  • Cornelia Oberlander’s Many Gifts to Vancouver. Susan Herrington. May 31, 2021. The Tyee.
  • Visionary Cornelia Oberlander helped define the field of landscape architecture. Alex Bozikovic. May 28, 2021. The Globe and Mail.
  • Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, landscape architect known as the “Queen of Green,” has died, aged 99. Hadani Ditmars. May 25, 2021. The Art Newspaper.
  • This is called “healing the earth.” Canadian Centre for Architecture.
  • A Great Tree Has Fallen. Robert Schåfer. May 25, 2021. Landezine.
  • Vancouver landscape architecture icon Cornelia Oberlander dead at 99. May 25, 2021. CBC News.
  • Remembering Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921-2021). Ellie Stathaki. May 24, 2021. Wallpaper* Magazine.
  • Visionary Vancouver landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander’s legacy lives on, from Robson Square to the Museum of Anthropology. Janet Smith. May 24, 2021. Stir Magazine.
  • Canadian landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander dies at 99. Matt Hickman. May 24, 2021. The Architect’s Newspaper.
  • Canadian landscape architecture icon Cornelia Oberlander dies at 99. The Canadian Press. May 24, 2021. CTV News.
  • Cornelia Oberlander, landscape architecture icon, dies at age 99. May 23, 2021. CBC News.
  • Landscape architect behind Vancouver’s beach logs awarded city’s highest honour. Simon Little. May 23, 2021. Global News.
  • Announcing the Passing of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. TCLF News. May 23, 2021. The Cultural Landscape Foundation.

 

 

Interviews & Features

 

 

Select Projects

B.C. Binning House, 1941

B.C. Binning House, 1941

Category : Bertram Charles Binning, C.E. Ned Pratt, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, R.A.D. Berwick
Eppich House II, 1983

Eppich House II, 1983

Category : Arthur Erickson, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Francisco Kripacz, Nick Milkovich Architects
Evergreen Building, 1980

Evergreen Building, 1980

Category : Arthur Erickson, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
Friedman House, 1953/ 2016

Friedman House, 1953/ 2016

Category : Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, D'Arcy Jones, D'Arcy Jones Architects, Frederic Lasserre
Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley Campus, 1993

Kwantlen Polytechnic University Langley Campus, 1993

Category : Barry Downs, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Glenn Burwell, Ron Beaton
McCurrach House, 1957

McCurrach House, 1957

Category : Albert Anderson, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
Montiverdi Estates, 1979-82

Montiverdi Estates, 1979-82

Category : Arthur Erickson, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Eva Matsuzaki
Museum of Anthropology, 1976/2010/2021

Museum of Anthropology, 1976/2010/2021

Category : Arthur Erickson, Atelier Anonymous, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Equilibrium Consulting, Hapa Collaborative, Nick Milkovich Architects, Stantec Architecture
Oberlander House II “Ravine”, 1970

Oberlander House II “Ravine”, 1970

Category : Barry Downs, Beans Justice, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Fred Dalla-Lana, Peter Oberlander
Oberlander I House (Tick-Tack-Toe House), 1958

Oberlander I House (Tick-Tack-Toe House), 1958

Category : Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Peter Oberlander
Provincial Law Courts (Robson Square), 1979

Provincial Law Courts (Robson Square), 1979

Category : Arthur Erickson, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Michael Banwell
Saint Christopher’s Church, 1956

Saint Christopher’s Church, 1956

Category : Bob Berwick, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, Sharp Thompson Berwick Pratt
 
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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]
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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
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#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. 
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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
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#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]
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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
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#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] 
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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
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#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). 
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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.
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#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.”
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Heating & Cooling Plant
University of Regina
Regina, SK
Designed by Clifford Weins
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#modernismelsewhere #universityofregina #cliffordwiens #canadianarchitect #canadianarchitect #modernarchitecture #midcenturymodern #modern #architecture #architectureheritage #iconicbuildings #artarchitecture #architecturelovers #modernheritage #saskatchwan #modernplaces #westcoastmodernleague #wcmlvan

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