When Cornelia Hahn Oberlander passed away on May 22, 2021, we lost an amazing landscape architect and my good friend. I wrote
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander: Making the Modern Landscape, which was published by the University of Virginia Press in 2013. I remember telling Boyd Zenner, the architecture and landscape acquisition editor for the press at the time, about the book in 2008. She immediately saw the potential and encouraged me to write a prospectus, which was thankfully accepted. The book was a real highlight for Cornelia, and it helped spread the word about her extraordinary life and her groundbreaking work.
At first I think Cornelia thought she was going to dictate the narrative to me, but I explained to her that I was going to interpret her life and work for the book, and that I hoped she would enjoy it. Thankfully, she did, and she was very generous with her time and her knowledge. With support from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, The Canada Counc
Remembering Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921-2021)
Remembering Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921-2021)
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the famed Canadian landscape architect, has passed away at the age of 99 in Vancouver. Here, we pay tribute to her life and work.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander in 2018, sitting on a Harry Bertoia ‘Diamond’ chair in her Vancouver home, located in the University Endowment Lands, a semi-forested area west of the city.
Photography: Yoshihiro Makino
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, the critically acclaimed Canadian landscape architect, has passed in Vancouver at the age of 99. Oberlander’s long career was filled with impressive highlights, From being taught by modernist architects such as Walter Gropius at Harvard, to working with Louis Kahn, Arthur Erickson, Shigeru Ban and Moshe Safdie on a string of thoughtful, life-enriching projects – her work and legacy on the value of green expanses and the importance of public space will remain important and influentia