Announcing the 2017 LAF Medal and Founders' Award Recipients

The Landscape Architecture Foundation (LAF) is delighted to announce the recipients of its 2017 LAF Medal and Founders’ Awards. Launched last year in conjunction with the foundation’s 50th anniversary, these two annual awards honor individuals and firms/organizations that have made a significant and sustained contribution to the LAF mission of supporting the preservation, improvement and enhancement of the environment.

LAF Medal

The LAF Medal is conveyed to a landscape architect for distinguished work over a career in applying the principles of sustainability to landscapes. The 2017 LAF Medal goes to Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, OC, MBCSCLA, FCSCLA, FASLA.

“Cornelia Hahn Oberlander once said, ‘I dream of green cities and green buildings where rural and urban activities live in harmony.’ With a career spanning a stunning seventy years, she has created just that,” said Awards Committee Chair Dennis Carmichael, FASLA.

LAF Founders’ Award

The LAF Founders’ Award is conveyed to a firm, agency, or organization that demonstrates a significant commitment to preserving, creating, or enhancing landscapes over a sustained period of time. The 2017 LAF Founders’ Award goes to the U.S. National Park Service.

“In no small way are landscape architects and their organizations, including the Landscape Architecture Foundation, indebted to the National Park Service for its leadership, ethics, and works of landscape architecture,” said Carmichael on behalf of the Awards Committee.

The LAF Board Emeritus Council manages the nomination and selection process for the awards. Members of the 2017 Award Committee were: