A Tribute to a Rare Treasure - Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921 - 2021)
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Editors Note: This article was originally titled “A Living Tribute to A Rare Treasure - Cornelia Hahn Oberlander - Celebrating 100 Years This Year!”. Sadly, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander passed away on Saturday, May 24, 2021, less than a month shy of what would have been her 100th birthday. We remember her fondly and are certain that her legacy will live on.
This June, one of my favorite designer friends will celebrate her 100th birthday. This is not surprising if you have come within a meter or so of the orbit of Cornelia Hahn Oberlander - a rare treasure of a person, bursting with an energy that simply radiates the positive spirit of possibility.
Steven Peck with Cornelia Hahn Oberlander at the Vancouver Green Roof Symposium in 2019
Cornelia was born in Germany in 1921, and her family escaped the Nazis by emigrating to the USA in 1939. Her mother, Beate Hahn, was a horticulturalist. Cornelia knew at the age of 11 that she wanted to become a landscape architect. After obtaining a BA from Smith College in 1944, she became one of the first women to earn a degree in landscape architecture from Harvard University’s School of Design in 1947. Afterwards, she worked with Louis Kahn and Oscar Stonorov before moving to Vancouver, BC, and setting up her own firm in 1953. Cornelia’s early work focused on creating enthralling designs for housing projects and children’s playgrounds, including the standout Children’s Creative Center for the Expo 67 International gathering in Montreal.
When I first met Cornelia in 1999, I was just a young whipper-snapper as she affectionately called me! My first impression was that for someone with such a huge reputation, she was a woman with a very small stature - but that was of course deceiving. Cornelia always has a tremendous glint in her eye and a delightful, almost mischievous smile to go along with it. I was very fortunate that she agreed to take me on a site tour of one of her masterpieces, the Robson Square/BC Provincial Courthouse, located in downtown Vancouver. Robson Square was designed by the architect Arthur Erickson, one of Cornelia’s long-standing collaborators. It forms an entire block in downtown Vancouver and is home to the provincial court rooms and an astounding beautiful roof garden. The roof garden features a wide range of plant materials, which not only soften the edges of the buildings against the street, but also provide a number of quiet spaces where one can sit and temporarily escape the stresses of the city. It’s an oasis in an otherwise busy downtown core, and reminds me a lot of New York City’s High Line, without the crowds.
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“When I designed Robson Square we didn’t have all the fancy products that are available on the market now for green roofs. I had to do a lot of research back then on waterproofing, drainage and soils.”
Cornelia is well known for the technical expertise she brings to her work, as well as her ability to design beautiful spaces that embody a sense of place. “When I designed Robson Square”, she told me, “we didn’t have all the fancy products that are available on the market now for green roofs. I had to do a lot of research back then on waterproofing, drainage and soils.”
Robson Square, one of Vancouver’s most prominent and beloved civic spaces, is effectively a large green roof. The multi-level public park is located among and above many civic buildings. Photo: Xicotencatl (CC BY-SA 4.0)
She hustled me quickly through the multiple levels of the Robson Square complex, explaining her choice of various native plants and recalling the difficulties of getting it constructed properly and securing quality maintenance. Two issues that are perhaps the bane of most landscape architects.
Similar to Theodore Osmundson, Cornelia was designing and overseeing the implementation of green roofs before they were even called green roofs. I had come to Vancouver in part, because I wanted to seek her advice about starting an industry association to promote green roofs across North America. At first, she was a bit lukewarm to the idea, despite her support for green roofs. Years later, at our CitiesAlive Conference in Vancouver, I remember she grabbed my arm and said, “You did it! You did it!” with that big smile on her face.
Cornelia continues to be a strong advocate for green roofs and supportive policy. At an industry meeting in 2018, she became visibly frustrated at the lack of mandatory green roof requirements for new buildings. In fact, at several industry events, Cornelia has called upon policy makers to make green roofs mandatory for new buildings because of the multiple public benefits they provide and she has actively lobbied for such measures. At present, the City of Vancouver is currently working on a green roof mandate for new buildings, something that will hopefully be implemented very soon. I know it would make Cornelia very happy!
The Vancouver Public Library Green Roof. Photo: American Hydrotech
Cornelia’s genius is rooted in part by her deep understanding and practice of the art of integrated design - how landscape and buildings can be intertwined to create something that touches the social, health, cultural and economic dimensions of place. This is no more exemplified by the green roof she originally designed for the Vancouver Public Library, with architect Moshe Safdie. The library’s green roof is adorned with a rich tapestry of indigenous shrubs and fescues that undulate across its surface, representing the nearby mountains, the lowlands and the Fraser River. I recall that our visit to this phenomenal location together was cut a bit short by an angry Canada Goose, that had other plans about whose project it really was. Since our visit, the roof has been redesigned to provide public green roof amenity space for library patrons, which is closer to the original design concept for the building.
Cornelia’s intellect and passion for green roofs has been a tremendous boost for the industry over the past 20 years. Her work has demonstrated that it is possible to implement a new kind of architecture/landscape architecture, a living architecture that combines these disciplines in an elegant and graceful manner.
Happy early 100th birthday to you Cornelia and thank you for your decades of inspirational contributions to the emerging field of living architecture. Your legacy is that of profound achievement, passionate conviction and a revolutionary vision for a better future. It is an inspiration to us all. I look forward to celebrating with you and our many colleagues on the West coast when Vancouver council finally passes the green roof legislation!
Steven W. Peck, GRP, Honorary ASLA is the founder and president of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and has worked to develop the industry in North America and around the world for the past 23 years.
Cornelia’s Selected Works
Museum of Anthropology (Arthur Erickson Architects, 1976)
Robson Square/Provincial Government Courthouse omplex in Vancouver (Arthur Erickson Architects, 1974-1983)
National Gallery of Canada (Moshe Safdie Architects, 1988)
Canadian Chancery, Washington, D.C. (Arthur Erickson Architects, 1989)
Vancouver Public Library (Moshe Safdie Architects, 1995)
Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly Building in Yellowknife (Matsuzaki/Wright Architects, 1995)
The C.K. Choi building, Institute of Asian Research at UBC (Matsuzaki/Wright Architects, 1996)
Further Reading
Cornelia co-wrote Green Roofs--A Design Guide & Review of the Relevant Technologies with Elisabeth Whitelow and Eva Matsuzaki, and Trees in the City with Ira B. Nadel
Kathy Stinson, Love Every Leaf: the life of landscape architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (2008)