Cornelia Oberlander, Landscape Architecture Icon, Dies at Age 99
Sourced from CBC
Cornelia Oberlander, a pioneer in landscape architecture whose work continues to define the character of Vancouver, died Saturday at the age of 99, days after Vancouver city council voted to grant her the Freedom of the City Award.
According to the city, Oberlander escaped Nazi persecution in Germany at the age of 18 and immigrated to the United States. She graduated among the first class of women from Harvard University with a degree in landscape architecture.
She later settled in Vancouver, where she founded her own landscape architecture firm, "bringing with her a vision of urban environments with pockets of nature that continues to shape our cityscape," reads a statement from the city.
Oberlander's contributions include Robson Square, the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch rooftop garden, the VanDusen Botanical Garden visitor centre, and the idea to use logs as natural seating on Vancouver's public beaches.
She also designed landscapes for Vancouver General Hospital's burn unit garden, as well as UBC's Museum of Anthropology and C.K. Choi Building.
"Vancouver residents and visitors continue to benefit from Oberlander's dream of 'green cities' that infuse rural and urban harmony," read the statement from the city.
From the Living Architecture Academy
