Tom Leader

Tom received a BA from UC Berkeley in 1978 and a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1983. The following 16 years were spent as a partner in the firm of Peter Walker and Partners, designing and building numerous award-winning projects throughout the U.S. and internationally. Two projects under his direction won national ASLA Honor Awards: the 1994 Seattle, WA, project for Longacres Park—a pioneering wetland park and bio-filtration system—and a 1998 planning award for the island of Hokkaido, Japan’s Asahikawa Riverfront Park.

In 1996, Tom Leader won the San Francisco Prize in a competition for the design of Philip Burton Federal Plaza leading to a related exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) in 1997. In 1998, he was awarded a year-long Rome Prize Fellowship in Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in Rome, focusing on the 3,000-year history of “sedimentation”.

Tom has been featured in two exhibits at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art—including the 2001 on-site “Coastlines” installation—as head of a collaborative team for the exhibit “Revelatory Landscapes” with Anu Mathur and Dilip da Cunha. SFMoMA also acquired several of Tom’s “map construction” works for their permanent collection. Speaking engagements include being a panelist for the Mayor’s Institute on City Design; as part of an AIA Regional Urban Design Assistance Team in Springfield, OH; and with the NEA Design Arts & Policy Panel.

Founded in 2001, Tom Leader Studio (TLS) is continuously involved in international competitions including Fresh Kills Landfill, NYC, in 2001; Shelby Farms Park, TN, in 2008; and the 2002 Master Plan Competition for the World Trade Center site. Tom Leader lectures frequently and—in 2008—taught at Ohio State University, where he served as the Glimcher Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Art, humor, and irreverence also play a role in the TLS culture. TLS produces on-site temporary installations including—most recently—the 2009 “Snagged” at the Rubin Center Gallery at the University of Texas, El Paso, concerning the U.S. / Mexico border. In 2005, “Break-Out”—a spatial riff on screen doors, rural life, and Johnny Cash—was featured on NPR Morning Edition.

In 2010 TLS was pleased to receive an annual “Tom Waits Award” from FASLANYC for “Break Out”. In the realm of books, “Tom Leader Studio, Three Projects”—edited by Jason Kenter—was published by Princeton Architectural Press. Currently in progress is a documentary film directed by Michele Forman about the trains and community in the context of Railroad Park.