Author to Launch Ron Thom Biography at Campus Designed by Master Architec

October 14, 2022

Ron Thom is one of the most important figures in Canadian architectural history who designed the iconic and award-winning Trent University Symons campus that includes soaring modern structures, legendary furniture and intricate details of interior design.

Now the author of Thom’s definitive biography, which includes extensive reference to the University and renderings of some of its first buildings, is launching the book at the campus designed by the master architect.

“At the centre of Trent’s Symons Campus is one of the best-preserved clusters of mid-century modern architecture found in a university setting, making the campus an ideal location for the launch of this biography,” said Dr. Michael Eamon, co-chair of the University’s Heritage Stewardship Committee and principal of Catharine Parr Traill College.

The community is invited to the launch of Ron Thom Architect – The Life of a Creative Modernist by Adele Weder on Tuesday, October 18 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Bata Library Film Theatre.

Guests will hear a presentation by Weder, learn more about Thom’s influential designs and gain access to the Michael Treadwell Special Collections and Rare Book Room, which has preserved elements of Thom’s inspiring design vision from the mid-century modern chair collection to artwork and ceramics.

Thom is renowned for his projects that continue to inspire generations of architects around the world. The biography outlines his life and work while delving into detail about how he “plunged into the epic job of designing the new standalone campus of Trent University on the outskirts of Peterborough” that would span the Otonabee River with the elegant Faryon Bridge. His initial work involved transforming several downtown buildings that could serve the University’s first cohort of students including Catharine Parr Traill College, for women, and Peter Robinson College, for men. Trent was the only university of the era designed as a ready-made collegiate institution with a collection of scholarly villages situated around a central library complex.

The late T.H.B. Symons, Trent’s founding president, is quoted in the book about watching Thom’s genius at work when drawing concepts for the University. “He would draw freehand, and with just a few strokes of the pen, he would precisely conceptualize something I couldn’t even imagine,” Symons said. “It was breathtaking.”

Weder is an award-winning architectural writer, cultural journalist, and curator of the nationally traveling exhibition Ron Thom and the Allied Arts, which exhibited at Trent University in 2014.

The book launch is a free event and registration is required.