Margolese Prize Winner Bing Thom on the Art of Placemaking (in Presents)

As date to nominate for $50,000 UBC prize approaches, a chat with last year's recipient.

The $50,000 Margolese National Design for Living Prize is awarded annually by UBC's School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture to a Canadian who has made and continues to make outstanding contributions to the development or improvement of living environments for Canadians of all economic classes. Applications for this year's prize remain open until Oct. 1 and the criteria for who might make an excellent nominee are here.

Last year's recipient, Vancouver architect and urban designer Bing Thom, received the nod for his broad vision of place-making, as exemplified by the reshaping of Surrey City Centre from a generic swatch of streets to a dense matrix of stores, homes, office tower, public library, university and civic plaza. His other major works include the Chan Centre and Sunset Community Centre in Vancouver, the transformation of Washington, D.C.'s historic Arena Stage Theater complex, and Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas -- all of which have redefined the neighbourhoods they are built in. Next up, among other projects, is the eye-popping $335-million Xiqu Centre opera house in Hong Kong, scheduled for completion in 2016. Bing Thom met with Tyee contributor Adele Weder recently to discuss the implications of the Margolese Prize. Here are edited and condensed excerpts from their conversation:

Created by a generous estate gift made to the University of British Columbia by Leonard Herbert Margolese.

Awarded to a Canadian who has made outstanding contributions to the development or improvement of living environments for Canadians of all economic classes.

Prize Amount: $50,000 CAD.

Deadline for applying: Oct. 1, 2014

Eligibility: Nominees must be Canadian citizens still actively making outstanding contributions to the development or improvement of living environments for Canadians of all economic classes.

More on the award, including past stories by The Tyee, can be found here.

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Margolese Prize Winner Bing Thom on the Art of Placemaking (in Presents)