The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA) has announced that Professor Peter Jacobs, AAPQ, FCSLA, FASLA, is the 2020 recipient of the Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture.
The Governor General’s Medal in Landscape Architecture (GGMLA) is the highest honour bestowed on a landscape architect by the CSLA. The medal is intended to honour exceptional landscape architects whose lifetime achievements and contributions to the profession have had a unique and lasting impact on Canadian society.
Jacobs is an Emeritus Professor of the School of Planning and Landscape Architecture at the Université de Montréal. He has served as Professor at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University and has lectured widely in North America, Europe and Latin America. He is the recipient of the A.H. Tammsaare Environment Prize, the President’s Prize of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the Frederick Todd Prize of l’Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec, and the Governor General’s medal on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada.
Following an initial start practicing in architecture, Jacobs’ work has focussed on landscape planning and urban design, with a particular focus on the conservation and development of rural and Northern landscapes. He is a Fellow and Past President of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA), Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), an Honorary Member of both the Association des architectes paysagistes du Québec and the Columbian Society of Landscape Architects, and has served as Canada’s delegate to the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) for ten years. He chaired the College of Senior Fellows and was named the first Beatrix Farrand Distinguished Fellow in Landscape and Garden Studies at Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, D.C.
The jury, which was chaired by Glenn O’Connor (OALA, FCSLA, ASLA), also included Nastaran Moradinejad (BCSLA, AALA, CSLA) and Carol Craig (AALA, FCSLA). It wrote: “Professor Peter Jacobs is a true renaissance man: award-winning practitioner, published author, orator, educator, leader, trailblazer, consultant, and mentor. He is best described as having an insatiable curiosity, a clear vision, and an unfailing desire to contribute to a better world. Far from pursuing a predetermined path, Professor Jacobs has, during his 50-year career, successfully navigated uncharted waters to mark our world through the practice of landscape architecture.”