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Tom Leader Gave Speech At The First Beijing Garden City International Summit Forum

The inaugural Beijing Garden City International Summit Forum was held at the Wofo Villa within the Beijing National Botanical Garden on June 19th, 2023. Tom Leader, the founder and principal of TLS, was invited as a keynote speaker and delivered a design lecture titled "First Principles: Case Studies from Practice."   During the lecture, Tom Leader shared TLS's longstanding design principles and research, as well as recent practices in China, including the Suzhou Shishan Park, the Jing-Zhang Railway Heritage Park, the Hangzhou Steelworks Park, and the "Green Ring Campus" planning in Shanghai's Jiading New Town. He also shared his insights on the concept of "garden city."   Other keynote speakers at the forum included Yan Wei, the head of the YWA Expert Studio at the Beijing Institute of Landscape and Architecture Design; Liang Qindong, the Vice President and Director of Landscape Design for AECOM...

Strawberry Music Festival Turns Hangzhou Steelworks Park into Spectacular Sonic Oasis

Hangzhou Steelworks Park, designed by TLS and Jiakun Architects, set the stage for an extraordinary musical experience as the renowned Strawberry Music Festival took place on June 17-18. Over 5,000 music lovers gathered at the post-industrial park's great lawn area, with the furnaces serving as a stunning backdrop. The festival showcased an eclectic mix of genres and featured both emerging talent and established acts, captivating the audience from start to finish. The transformation of the park into a vibrant musical oasis highlighted the park's landscape splendor. As the sun set, the crowd danced and swayed to the rhythm of the performances, harmonizing with the industrial charm of the park. TLS and Jiakun Architects Consortium won the international design competition of Hangzhou Steelworks Park back in 2020, and construction commenced in late 2021. Currently, the phase 1 area is nearly completed, including...

TLS Honored with Two World Landscape Architecture Awards

TLS is excited to receive two World Landscape awards today! A Merit award went to Grand Bayway, a coastal resilience / sea level rise solution for a large area of San Francisco Bay, part of the recent Resilient by Design competition. An Honor Award went to Jiading Green Ring in China, a proposal for 70 sq. km of peripheral land surrounds the city of Jiading in Shanghai – proposing a major new environmental field research campus to preserve agricultural and ecological resources. Over 250 projects were submitted to the WLA Awards this year. This awards program encompasses a very diverse range of projects from across the world that showcase the talent and work of the landscape architecture profession.   Learn More: Green Ring Campus The Grand Bayway...

TLS Receives Three 2023 ASLA Chapter Design Awards

TLS is excited to announce that three projects were honored during the 2023 American Society of Landscape Architects Northern California (ASLA NCC) Design Awards. Both Richmond Bayway and The Grand Bayway received Merit Award in Analysis and Planning. Baiyangdian Waterfront Park was awarded the DESIGN: PARKS, RECREATION, TRAILS, OPEN SPACE Merit Award which recognizes the project’s outstanding professional accomplishments.   Read more information about each project: Baiyangdian Waterfront Park The Grand Bayway Richmond Bayway  ...

Baiyangdian Waterfront Park won 2 IDA awards

TLS‘s Baiyangdian Waterfront Park won 2 awards at the 17th Annual IDA(International Design Awards). It is awarded the Silver Award in the Landscape category, and the Bronze Award in the Landmark, memorials, and public space category. Read More… This is the first significant open space component of the Xiong-an New City competition and the first realization of the 24 solar terms ideas structuring the open space thinking. The Xiong-an Competition was won in 2018 by TLS and SOM. Read More… The International Design Awards (IDA) exists to recognize, celebrate and promote exceptional design visionaries and discover emerging talent in Architecture, Interior, Product, Graphic and Fashion Design worldwide.  A handful of designers, thinkers and entrepreneurs created the International Design Awards in 2007 to celebrate smart and sustainable multidisciplinary designs....

Houston Endowment Discussion Panel

On November 15, 2022 Executive Director of the Houston Endowment, Ann Stern convened a discussion panel, associated with the building opening, to share stories and insights from the design and construction process and how the new facility is helping advance the Foundation’s goals . Tom Leader was honored to join Ann Stern, Kevin Daly, of KDA Architects, Carlos Jimenez, Architect and Rice University Architecture Professor, and Alison Weaver, Director of the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice.   ...

Korea 50: Korea Remade

Korea 50: Korea Remade is on view at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in the Designing Peace exhibition through September 2023....

Ningbo Xiangshan People’s Square Area Design Competition

Tom Leader was honored to serve on an illustrious jury for this major international competition. The project is for a new cultural, athletic, and TOD architectural program and the re-imagining of the People’s Square– the current and future “living room for the city”....

ULI/Gerald D Hines Student Urban Design Competition

This year’s 20th annual student urban design competition was a redevelopment plan for an Oakland, California site. The challenge brief asked the students to address equity, housing affordability, access to neighborhood services, sustainability, and connectivity to surrounding communities....