Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 6

FEATURE
BUILDING COMMUNITY:
How Constantine Tsomides ’54 Cultivates Connection
Through Architecture
Activities Center, Carleton, Willard Village – Bedford, MA
Distinguished Alumnus
Constantine Tsomides ’54
Constantine Tsomides ’54 has built a distinguished career in the planning and design of senior living
facilities, continuing care retirement communities (CCRC’s), and educational and cultural facilities.
He founded Tsomides Associates in 1980 and guided its growth into one of the most respected design
firms in the Northeast. Taki, as he is well known, attended Bowdoin College (BA, arte cum laude)
followed by graduate studies in architecture at Princeton (Princeton Scholar), Columbia (MArch), and
Harvard (MDes) Graduate Schools of Architecture and Design. While he has studied and interned under
some of the most renowned architects of his time, Taki names his earliest influence as the City of Saco,
where he was raised, and Thornton Academy, where he was educated and served as president of his class.
Taki remembers Saco as the community that fostered his vision of the American way: full of opportunity and
a welcoming citizenry. He knew early on that he wanted to become an architect. “I had a deep appreciation
for the people and environment around me, and strongly felt as though I could—and should—contribute,” he
remembers. And contribute he has, receiving regional, national, and international attention, along with a host
of prestigious design awards.
6 Story by Haley Thompson · Photos Courtesy of Tsomides Associates