Canadian landscape architecture icon Cornelia Oberlander dies at 99

Cornelia Oberlander, of Vancouver, B.C., has a laugh with Governor General Michaelle Jean after she promoted her to Officer of the Order of Canada during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Friday June 18, 2010. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

VANCOUVER — Canadian landscape architecture icon Cornelia Oberlander has died at the age of 99.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation, which created a prize in Oberlander's name, says the landscape architect passed away on Saturday in Vancouver, where she had been living since the 1950s.

The Washington, D.C.-based foundation says Oberlander was named the inaugural recipient of the Governor General's Medal in Landscape Architecture in 2016, and became a Companion of the Order of Canada the following year.

It lists some of her notable projects as the grounds of Ottawa's National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Embassy in Berlin and Vancouver's Robson Square, among many others.

The organization says Oberlander spent much of her early career working on public housing and designing playgrounds, including the Children's Creative Centre at Montreal's Expo 67.

A funeral is set to be held at the Temple Sholom Cemetery in Vancouver today.

Her namesake Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize was established by the Cultural Landscape Foundation in 2019. The prize is to be awarded every other year, starting this year.