Canadian architect Bing Thom died last week while in Hong Kong, at the height of his renown and with a wealth of architectural commissions underway. The Vancouver-based architect has been responsible for landmark works in his own country, and in recent years has established a growing reputation in the United States and China. His architecture brought him the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada’s Gold Medal, his homeland’s highest honor, and armloads of other accolades. Thom died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm while on a site visit of 322,000-square-foot Xiqu Centre Opera House in the West Kowloon Cultural District, currently under construction.
Thom studied architecture at the University of British Columbia and then did a graduate degree in architecture Berkeley, an experience which inflected his ambition towards a more socially-oriented architecture. A post-graduation stint at Fumihiko Maki’s office further fuelled this motivation. Upon returning to Vancouver in 1972, he worked for his onetime teacher, architect Arthur Erickson, before launching his own firm a decade later. Architect Michael Heeney joined as co-principal in 1989, at which point the firm began drawing progressively larger commissions.
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