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Wikipedia / Bing Thom

Bing Wing Thom (8 December 1940 – 4 October 2016) was a Canadian architect and urban designer.

Early life

Bing Wing Thom (Chinese: 譚秉榮) was born of December 8, 1940 in Hong Kong and emigrated to Vancouver with his family in 1949. His paternal grandfather had emigrated to Vancouver in the 1890s and his father was born in New Westminster before moving to Hong Kong after being unable to practice as a pharmacist in Canada.

In 1966, Thom received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of British Columbia (UBC) then a Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. He spent two years teaching at the National University of Singapore, then returned to Vancouver and taught at UBC for another two years. In 1971, he moved to Tokyo to work for Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki.

Career

In 1973, his former teacher Arthur Erickson Architects asked him to act as project director on the Robson Square Courthouse Complex. Thom had a life-long interest in landscaping and embraced the challenge of the project, which involved putting a full landscape over a man-made structure and creating a 4-block roof garden; the project, which involved thousands of plants, was complex—he and landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander went so far as to create their own soil.

After Robson Square, Thom worked with Erickson on Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall, the Air Defence Ministry Building in Jeddah and California Plaza in Los Angeles. He would also repeatedly work with Oberlander, notably on the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. The site contained 50 100-foot trees and 200 60 year-old azaleas. Thom put the 8-storey structure into this forest, and then let the forest grow onto it. In a 1990 interview, Thom said that he was an architect first, but would never design a building without also designing the landscape, saying "The building must grow from the ground, and the landscaping is the foundation. Each building must sit correctly on that setting, while relating to the landscape. So the landscape is actually more important than the building. Many architects don't realize that landscaping is essential to architecture—that buildings and gardens are inter-related and indivisible. I start every design by looking at the property's characteristics—the way the sun shines, the wind blows, the location, the view. I use plants only, never anything artificial. And I always use vegetation from the building's locale. We must remember that we can't fight nature. We have to work with it."

In 1981, Thom established his own firm, Vancouver-based Bing Thom Architects in an office of his own design and construction. As of 2015, the firm had 47 staff members, including principals Michael Heeney, Venelin Kokalov and Shinobu Homma, directors, registered architects, architectural graduate and students, urban designers and planners, and support staff. Thom also had offices in Hong Kong and Washington D.C. and, in 2010, was awarded the Architectural Firm of the Year award by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada (RAIC). At Thom's death, the firm's name was changed to Revery Architecture, which completed some of Thom's projects, notable the Butterfly Tower & First Baptist Church Complex which opened in 2026.

Thom's firm spent its first few years working on numerous private homes, condominium towers, and pavilions for Vancouver's Expo 86, including the top-rated Northwest Territories Pavilion, a $2.8 million iceberg, with a coating of shimmering glass granules. This led to the commission to design the Canada Pavilion at Expo '92 in Seville. For this, Thom needed to express the Canadian spirit in a way that would fit with Spanish architecture. Canada is the world's largest exporter of zinc, so Thom used thick zinc-tiled walls to control heat and included a cool, landscaped courtyard and a cascading water wall. Visitors waited in line for as long as eight hours to get into the pavilion, but they did so in a shaded colonnade. The structure also included a performance stage, exhibit hall, restaurant, art gallery and a 500-seat IMAX Theatre. It was one of the most popular pavilions at the fair, garnered major global recognition and became the only international pavilion permanently retained as a legacy building.

In 1995, Thom was made a Member of the Order of Canada and received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding service to his country. He was a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and received honorary degrees from UBC and Simon Fraser University—he was also named Honorary Professor by Singapore's Tongji University. In 2011 he was awarded the RAIC's highest honour, the RAIC Gold Medal.

Personal life and death

Thom was married to Bonnie Koo, a landscaper, for over 50 years; they had no children. While on a trip to Hong Kong, Thom suffered a brain aneurysm and died on October 4, 2016 at the age of 75.

Works

The full records of Thom's projects, drawings and proposals can be found at the University of Calgary Archives.

Awards and honors

  • Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia Award in Architecture: The Butterfly, 2025

  • International Architecture Award, Skyscrapers/High Rises: The Butterfly, 2025

  • Future House Award: The Butterfly, 2025

  • Canadian Architect Award of Excellence: The Butterfly, 2021

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Medal for Excellence in Architecture: Guildford Aquatic Centre, 2016

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Architecture: Surrey City Centre Public Library, 2013

  • Margolese National Design for Living Prize, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia, 2013

  • Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award Winner, Canadian Immigrant Magazine, 2012

  • Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Gold Medal, 2011

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Certificate of Merit: SAIT Polytechnic Parkade, 2011

  • Architectural Firm Award, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, 2010

  • LL.D. honoris causa, University of British Columbia, 2008

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Architecture: Aberdeen Centre, 2007

  • Excellence on the Waterfront Award, The Waterfront Center: The Trinity Uptown Plan, 2005

  • Merit Award, Landscape Analysis & Planning, Boston Society of Landscape Architects: The Trinity Uptown Plan, 2005

  • LL.D. honoris causa, Simon Fraser University, 2004

  • Special Jury Prize, Marché International des Professionnels de l'Immobilier: Surrey Central City, 2004

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Medal in Architecture: Surrey Central City, 2004

  • Innovation Award, Architectural Institute of British Columbia: Surrey Central City, 2004

  • Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, 2002

  • CIP Award for Planning Excellence, Canadian Institute of Planners: Conceptual Development Plan for the City Center of Yuxi, 2001

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Medal: Pacific Canada Pavilion, Vancouver Aquarium, 2000

  • Innovation Award, Architectural Institute of British Columbia: Pacific Canada Pavilion, Vancouver Aquarium, 2000'

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Medal: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 1998

  • USITT Merit Award, United States Institute for Theater Technology: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 1998

  • Member of the Order of Canada, 1995

  • Winner, Canadian National Selection (Canada Pavilion, Seville Expo '92, 1992

  • Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia Medal: False Creek Yacht Club, 1992

  • Governor General Medal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada: Point Grey Road Condominiums, 1990

  • Governor General Medal, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada: False Creek Yacht Club, 1990

  • Excellence on the Waterfront Award, The Waterfront Center: False Creek Yacht Club, 1990

Further reading

  • Canada Pavilion: Expo '92 Seville, Spain, Bing Thom Architects, Inc., 1992

  • Dalian New Town : Between Mountains and Sea, Bing Thom Architects, Inc., 1994

  • Scale + Timbre, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts by Neill Archer Roan, Black Dog Publishing, 2002

  • Bing Thom Works by Bing Thom. Douglas & McIntyre & Princeton Architectural Press, 2011

Gallery

References