Love Every Leaf
The Life of Landscape Architect Cornelia Hahn Oberlander
By Kathy Stinson
Tundra Books, 2008
This biography tells the life story of one of the most respected Landscape Architects in Canadian history, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander. It depicts her early childhood in Nazi Germany as a young Jewish girl. In Cornelia's second decade she found refuge in the United States and then later in Canada with her mother and siblings.
The beautiful memories from her early childhood on her property in Germany developed her passion for gardening at a young age. But, the painful memories from Germany shaped her headstrong personality and gave her a stronger determination to live life to the fullest when she was given a fresh start in the new world.
She fought through the male dominated criticisms within the architecture field in the 50's. Cornelia lived life with the 3 P's in mind (patience, persistence and politeness). With her integrity and consistency with the 3 P's, Cornelia started developing respect from her peers and was awarded many large profile jobs in her career, such as; Robson Square, The Vancouver Public Library roof top garden and the Museum of Anthropology.
Her ideas were unique and ahead of her time which made her stand out amongst the more traditional landscape architects. She always had the ability to study each site so meticulously and follow her passions with such determination. Cornelia was a pioneer in using the natural surroundings for guidelines to her designs, often using native plants and large groupings of repeated plant material. She also uses "green" guidelines in mind for water preservation and low maintenance planting schemes. Well into her nineties, Cornelia is still designing beautiful landscapes around the world. An absolute inspiration for any landscape designer.
Also, on a personal note I gardened her property a few times! She was definitely meticulous with her moss lawn. It was a very naturalized yard.
The beautiful memories from her early childhood on her property in Germany developed her passion for gardening at a young age. But, the painful memories from Germany shaped her headstrong personality and gave her a stronger determination to live life to the fullest when she was given a fresh start in the new world.
She fought through the male dominated criticisms within the architecture field in the 50's. Cornelia lived life with the 3 P's in mind (patience, persistence and politeness). With her integrity and consistency with the 3 P's, Cornelia started developing respect from her peers and was awarded many large profile jobs in her career, such as; Robson Square, The Vancouver Public Library roof top garden and the Museum of Anthropology.
Her ideas were unique and ahead of her time which made her stand out amongst the more traditional landscape architects. She always had the ability to study each site so meticulously and follow her passions with such determination. Cornelia was a pioneer in using the natural surroundings for guidelines to her designs, often using native plants and large groupings of repeated plant material. She also uses "green" guidelines in mind for water preservation and low maintenance planting schemes. Well into her nineties, Cornelia is still designing beautiful landscapes around the world. An absolute inspiration for any landscape designer.
Also, on a personal note I gardened her property a few times! She was definitely meticulous with her moss lawn. It was a very naturalized yard.
No comments:
Post a Comment