Shepley Bulfinch > People > Thomas D. Kearns
My passion for architecture grew out of interests in science, fine art and history - the intersection of which led me to architecture. Exposure to diverse environments and cultures at an early age, in New York, San Juan and Dublin, Ireland, reinforced the role that the natural and built environment could play in creating vital places for people. While at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, I pursued degrees in Building Science, Architecture and Fine Arts, beginning the exploration of the integration of the poetics and techniques found in my work today. My RPI experience culminated in my research on the Renaissance architect Bernini, bringing together the sculptural and mathematical foci, while in Rome.
My work is enriched through teaching, lecture and other community service. Painting, percussion and raising a family occupy me outside the office - although my children will claim family vacations are a little too focused on architectural tours.
Most of my practice has been focused on academic campuses. The thread that runs through the work is "community" - intellectual and social - supported by buildings and landscape. With each project, the goal is a unique response that creates a dialog with the environment and symbolic identity for the institution. My most fulfilling contributions to place always grow out of special collaborations with clients willing to explore the culture of their community and vocabulary of their context - looking forward.
Projects
Harvard Innovation LabHarvard Business School
Comp Science Bldg and Mason Hall
Johns Hopkins University
Perkins Library
Duke University
Campus Master Plan
Bucknell University
Duke Law School
Duke University