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Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
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Marianne McKenna

Posted: Sep 24, 2019
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Marianne McKenna founded KPMB Architects with her partners in 1987 as a hybrid model of practice based on gender equity, collaboration, diversity, and excellence. Born in Montreal, Canada, and educated at Swarthmore College and Yale University, she has devoted her career to design excellence in architecture. In 2012 she was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada for creating “architecture that enriches the public experience.”

Ms. McKenna is acclaimed as the architect of the Royal Conservatory TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning and its iconic Koerner Hall. Her projects also include the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre at the University of Waterloo, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the latter described by the Chicago Tribune as a ‘spatially complex design that promises to teach valuable lessons of collaboration.’ She is leading projects for Boston University’s Data Sciences Center and historic Massey Hall in Toronto, as well as the recently opened Brearley School in New York City.

Ms. McKenna’s love of architecture extends to teaching and mentoring. In 2016 she was the Lord Norman R. Foster Visiting Professor at Yale University. She also sits on the International Advisory Board for the McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University.

Statement: Cornelia hahn Oberlander is an extraordinary professional who has dedicated her life and her career to creating landscapes that inspire. She is a powerful thinker who in every project takes her inspiration from both deep research of the individual context, and an ambition to extend the realm of what is possible. She is a true collaborator with the architects with whom she works, searching for both formal and practical integration of the landscape into the soul of the project. Her understanding is grounded in technical knowledge that allows her to design meaningful, sustainable landscapes that support growth and development over time, and that will endure.

I met Cornelia when she was 75, and I sensed that she was but midway through a career in which she had blended all aspects of her life—as a continuous student, a mother and wife, and as a landscape architect—to excel in all that she unstintingly took on. I knew that day that I had been granted a privilege to meet a unique trailblazer. I have learned an amazing amount from her. She is indeed a national treasure, and I am pleased to honor her with my support of this special award that will be granted in her name into the future.

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