This sad and unexpected news happened today:
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our Founding Principal, Bing Thom. Bing suffered a brain aneurism while on a recent trip in Hong Kong and passed away in that city on the afternoon of October 4th. His wife, Bonnie Thom, who shared his life for over 50 years, was by his side.
Bing Thom was one of Canada’s most admired and accomplished architects, a dedicated and artful citybuilder whose global reputation was closely tied to Metro Vancouver, a region he cared for deeply and did much to protect and to improve. Bing’s commitment to using architecture to improve the urban environment was recognized by a range of honours including the Order of Canada, the Golden Jubilee Medal, honorary degrees from Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia, the Margolese Prize, an honorary professorship from Tongji University in Shanghai, and the RAIC Gold Medal, the highest honour given to a Canadian architect.
I cannot really put in words how profoundly saddened and shocked I am to hear this. Every moment I spent in Bing’s company enriched me and inspired me to do better. Each and every one of his design accomplishments on the ground speak for themselves in terms of his many contributions to the built realm globally. But that is only one part of his drive, his constant striving to make this a better world. He challenged people to search deeper to find ways to make their personal efforts in whatever they did more meaningful to society.
I feel that, with his passing, I’ve been robbed, along with so many others, of the inspirational mentoring that I was looking forward to in future collaborations that will now be foregone.
My last (and lasting) memory of Bing Thom is when I had the opportunity to interview him last year for Reimagine Downtown Vancouver initiative. I had requested 15 minutes of his time. We spoke for almost an hour. His love and pride for Vancouver was very evident. Here is a transcript of the highlights of the conversation: http://reimaginedowntown.com/bing-thom-reimagines-downtown-vancouver/
One of his observations that has stuck with me in particular is:
“Vancouver is the new Venice. It’s the meeting place of the world. It’s the joining of Europe and Asia but because it has been so Eurocentric for 150 it will now become Asia-centric for the next 50 or 100 or 150 years.”
Now travelling here in France, Spain and Germany and having Vancouver as a 2nd home, but also understanding the history of Vancouver, Asian influence and Canadians from those family backgrounds: his words in urban planning and community life are true.
You need to be here in Europe now and see Vancouver through a different lens for the future. There is a good transformation in Vancouver now the makes the city modern with unique contributions worldwide, that one does NOT see in Europe so far.