From WashingtonCityPaper.com ― Can Vancouver Architect Bing Thom Save the Southwest From the Legacy of Urban Renewal?

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“In order to hear good sound from performances or theater, the most important thing is the gap between the words or the gap between the music,” says Thom, 71, the architect who rethought Arena Stage—down to making sure Arena patrons don’t hear airplanes flying into Reagan National Airport, as they did for decades, when the space should be completely quiet. “In the gap, you create the suspension for what’s to come. If you’re not able to create silence in the space and exterior noise comes in during the gap, the whole presentation is lost. It could be the hum of a light switch, an ambulance, an air conditioner coming on. It’s the pace of the delivery. The pace of the delivery, you create by the gaps.”

Read more: “This Can’t Be the Way to Build Cities”: Can Vancouver architect Bing Thom save Southwest from the legacy of urban renewal? - Washington City Paper