13.06.2022
Rasmus Astrup: 'City Nature' - The 2022 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Lecture
In spring 2022, SLA partner and design principal Rasmus Astrup was invited to give the annual Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Lecture by the UBC School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture in Vancouver.
In his lecture, Rasmus provides insights into SLA’s design process, thinking, and projects – and our ongoing work as Lead Landscape Designers for the QUAYSIDE development in Waterfront Toronto and the masterplan for the former Toronto airport DOWNSVIEW.
Cornelia Hahn Oberlander (1921-2021) was a trailblazing Canadian landscape architect who revolutionized mid-20th century urban play spaces, cleared the path for women in the profession, and designed several national and international projects of high natural, functional, and aesthetic beauty.
The filming of the 2022 Cornelia Hahn Oberlander Lecture is provided by our generous clients Icona Properties:
Perspectives
The ravines of Toronto: The city’s living icon
When we think of urban icons, our minds tend to go to skylines, towers, and plazas – the things we build to represent who we are. But sometimes, the true icons of a city are not designed at all. They are shaped by time, water, geology, and the quiet persistence of life itself. For Toronto, that icon is its ravines.
From data to daily life: How SLIM helped design 104 parks for Abu Dhabi
Nature is our origin. The city is our forgetting
What if the city isn’t broken because of noise or pollution – but because it has lost its meaning? And what if the true green transition doesn’t start with energy systems but with our senses?
In his new op-ed in Byrummonitor, SLA’s founder Stig L. Andersson argues that the current crisis of civilization – from climate breakdown to mental health — is rooted in how we’ve designed our cities to disconnect us from nature.