Virtual Oberlander Prize Forum: The Landscape/ Architecture Relationship with Mario Schjetnan & Victor Legorreta
In this conversation, Mario Schjetnan and Víctor Legorreta explore the relationship between landscape and architecture — how the two disciplines inform, challenge, and ultimately elevate each other. Drawing on decades of collaboration, they will discuss their shared approach to design and teamwork, and the extraordinary results that this partnership has consistently produced. They will reflect on three landmark projects where their practices converged: Ayamonte, the Four Seasons Resort Tamarindo, and the New Guanajuato Government Offices in Silao.
Mario Schjetnan, FASLA
Mario Schjetnan, FASLA, winner in 2025 of the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize and the founder of Grupo de Diseño Urbano (GDU), has an undergraduate degree in architecture from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (1968), and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley (1970). He was awarded the Loeb Fellowship from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1984) to pursue advanced environmental studies. In 1995 the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León awarded him an Honorary PhD in Architecture, and in 2025 the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California also awarded him an Honorary PhD in Architecture.
Schjetnan is part of a generation of landscape architects, architects, and urbanists who became aware of the environmental impact of urban development and its consequences on life, the planet, and its inhabitants. He created new theories and practices for the design of cities based on environmental knowledge, cultural memory, and consideration for the inhabitants’ quality of life, well-being, and a new ethical and aesthetic relationship with the environment.
Schjetnan’s influences include Mexican Modernist architects such as Luis Barragán, Max Cetto, and Mario Pani. In terms of landscape architecture, he cites Luis Barragán, Roberto Burle Marx, and Lawrence Halprin (the latter was his impetus for studying at Berkeley), along with artists such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Juan O’Gorman, novelist Carlos Fuentes, poet Octavio Paz, and the country’s rich legacy of pre-Hispanic myths, architecture and culture, among others.
Víctor Legorreta
Víctor Legorreta is an architect with studies at Universidad Iberoamericana Mexico City Campus and professional experience at Leason Pomeroy in USA, Martorell-Bohigas-Mackay in Barcelona, and Fumihiko Maki in Japan. He joined LEGORRETA in 1991, where he is Partner, CEO and Design Director up to this day. He has lectured at universities and congresses globally and served on juries, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design Awards.
Victor is recognized as Fellow AIA Honorary Member and Emeritus Academic of the National Academy of Architecture, Valle de México Chapter. He also has served as President of the International Academy of Architecture (IAA) Interclub in Mexico.
His landmark projects include Papalote Children's Museum, Zambrano Hellion Hospital, BBVA Tower (with Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners), Four Seasons Tamarindo (with Mauricio Rocha and Mario Schjetnan), CBX Tijuana-San Diego Border Bridge, Stanford's Highland Halls Student Residences, and the MIYANA mixed-use complex, as well as private residences around the globe.
With 60 years of global work—from master plans to industrial design— LEGORRETA embraces a timeless, human-centered vision. Geometry, light, courtyards, water, and color weave narratives honoring Mexican roots. Under architect Víctor Legorreta’s leadership, the team reimagines this legacy, creating environments that inspire happiness with a sense of belonging.
