Landscape architect Julie Bargmann scoops 2021 Oberlander Prize
The 2021 Oberlander Prize has been announced, honouring landscape architecture and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander – and the winner is American landscape architect Julie Bargmann

The Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize was founded in 2019 to celebrate the late, great designer’s often-overlooked field, as well as honour her influential and pioneering work. Architectural gardens, sustainability and the need for communities to connect with green, open spaces are all critical aspects of the profession that Oberlander was deeply passionate about – and the Vancouver-based landscape architect was talking about them long before most others did. Now, aiming at continuing her legacy, the prize will be given every two years and the inaugural award has just been announced: crowning American landscape architect Julie Bargmann as the 2021 Oberlander Prize winner.
The Oberlander Prize was set up by The Cultural Landscape Foundation in Washington DC. It includes a cash prize that comes accompanied by two years of public engagement activities focused on the laureate and landscape architecture. The recipient is an individual who is ‘exceptionally talented, creative, courageous, and visionary' and has ‘a significant body of built work that exemplifies the art of landscape architecture', say the organisers.
Julie Bargmann, 2021 Oberlander Prize laureate.
Bargmann is the founder of D.I.R.T. (Dump It Right There) studio, and a professor of landscape architecture at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. Through her three-decade career, the landscape architect has tirelessly championed the power of designing for the outdoors. Her work focuses on contaminated, neglected, and forgotten urban and post-industrial sites, transforming them into artfully designed havens of green and calm.
2021 Oberlander Prize jury recognise ‘impact on the public landscape’
‘Unearthing the raw ingredients of design from waste and wastelands defines my life’s work,' Bargmann explains. ‘Both the pedagogy of my teaching and my methodology as a designer address the social and ecological imperatives to reclaim degraded land. Integrating regenerative technologies with design propositions and built landscapes embodies my contribution to the discipline of landscape architecture.'
The jury, including chair Dorothée Imbert, architect Tatiana Bilbao, and designer Walter Hood, was impressed by her body of work. They awarded her the 2021 Oberlander Prize for ‘her leadership in the world of ideas, her impact on the public landscape, her model of an activist practice, and her commitment to advancing landscape architecture both through teaching and design.’
Core City Park Detroit, MI, Spring 2021.
Turtle Creek Water Works, Dallas, TX, 2021.
Turtle Creek Water Works, Dallas, TX, 2021.
Urban, Outfitters, Philadelphia, PA, 2021.
Vintondale Excavated Ponds
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
The bespoke Jaguar E-Type GTO melds elements from every era of the classic sports car
ECD Automotive Design’s one-off commission caters to a client who wanted to combine the greatest hits of Jaguar’s E-Type along with modern conveniences and more power
-
Casa Sanlorenzo debuts in Venice as a new hub for contemporary art
The luxury yachting leader unveils a stunning new space in a palazzo restored by Piero Lissoni – where art, innovation, and sustainability come together
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on life
Thanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being rebonr as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpiece
Now hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside out
For the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summer
A Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New York
The Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas
-
A Fire Island house for two sisters reimagines the beach home typology
Coughlin Scheel Architects’ Fire Island house is an exploration of an extended family retreat for the 21st century
-
PlayLab opens its Los Angeles base, blending workspace, library and shop in a new interior
Creative studio PlayLab opens its Los Angeles workspace and reveals plans to also open its archive to the public for the first time, revealing a dedicated space full of pop treasures