Urban Jungle | Timber City

Join us on January 27th for our first Teulo Talks event of the year where we’ve gathered thought-leaders from across the globe to share their unique experiences creating the Urban Jungle and the Timber City! 

11.30am - 12.30pm

Thomas Robinson, Founding Principal, LEVER Architecture

BIO: 

Thomas Robinson is the Founder of LEVER Architecture, a US-based design practice with offices in Portland, Oregon and Los Angeles. His firm is widely recognized for material innovation and for pioneering work with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT). Thomas’ projects encompass first-of-their-kind timber buildings for clients such as The Nature Conservancy and Adidas and include more than $1M in research to develop and test wood building assemblies. He has lectured globally on mass timber innovation and taught advanced wood design studios at the University of Arkansas and the University of Oregon. LEVER was recently recognized by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies; and in 2017, was named to Architectural Record’s Design Vanguard and to the Architectural League of New York’s Emerging Voices.

Talk topic: 

Material Landscapes: Sustainable and Equitable Sourcing in Mass Timber Construction

Thomas Robinson will discuss lessons learned from 10+ years of mass timber design and research, detailing an approach that sees design as a wider process from Forest to Frame and considers material origins and production as drivers of design. Thomas will highlight recent projects such as the Adidas North American Headquarters Expansion, the Oregon Conservation Center, and the Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters—detailing how innovative sourcing can encourage responsible forest management and unlock economic opportunity for rural communities and businesses owned by people of color.

Tom Chung: Expert Series 

Leers Weinzapfel 

1pm - 2pm 

BIO:

Tom S. Chung is a Principal and Design Leader at Leers Weinzapfel Associates, recipient of the national AIA Firm Award and among Architect Magazine’s Top 50 firms in the US since 2015. 

Tom is a national leader in the practice and education of Mass Timber Design. He

has worked closely with researchers, structural engineers and fabricators to gain

mastery over this new technology. He has led the firm’s mass timber design for the John W. Olver Design Building at University of Massachusetts Amherst, one of the most advanced cross laminated timber building in the US and Adohi Hall at University of Arkansas, the largest completed cross laminated timber building in the US. 

Over the past five years, Tom has been invited to speak on this emerging subject at conferences and seminars world-wide including Canada, Costa Rica, South Korea, and throughout the United States. He has also shared his knowledge and experience in Mass Timber design with his peers through numerous AIA continuing education workshops and webinars. 

As adjunct faculty, Tom also teaches design studios focusing on Mass Timber, having taught at Auburn University in Alabama and currently teaching graduate level studios at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a Trustee of Boston By Foot, a non-profit educational organization that promotes Boston’s history and architecture and serves on the Design Professionals Advisory Council at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Born in Seoul, South Korea and raised in the US, Tom received his degrees in Architecture from University of Virginia and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. 

Talk topic: Expert Series 

Introduction to Umass Amerherst in Boston

Module one and two: Introducing Tom Chung from Leers Weinzapfel 

We delve into Tom’s background, career, passion and why he chose Architecture. 

Tom emigrated to the United States at 7 years old and spent his time in class drawing because he could not yet speak English.  Tom talks about how this impacted his trajectory toward becoming an Architect. Tom describes his passion as a dual interest in art and science and he delves into how both fulfill his career.  In his work, there is a strong focus on volunteering and service - Tom discusses how he is enabling this through the public spaces he designs. 

He spends a lot of time in the sustainability space through the work he does in mass timber buildings. Tom discusses the techniques and structures he is exploring in this space. On top of this he is attracted to the social and environmental potential of architecture. 

Tom will lead us into the focus of his expert series with an introduction of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Design Building / Leers Weinzapfel Associates.