Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 7

Project highlights include the recently completed Hillside
Village CCRC, Keene, NH; Carleton-Willard Village,
Bedford, MA; design award winning Cedars CCRC,
Portland, ME; Newbury Court CCRC, Concord, MA;
and The Moorings (Cadbury) at Lewes CCRC, DE. Taki
explains, “As people age, they grow to value people, society,
and the institutions that mold them (churches, synagogues,
schools, community)." He is especially motivated by the
work that his non-profit clients sponsor. “It is gratifying to
design these projects as architecture provides a fidelity to
a worthy purpose, and the opportunity to give back to the
community.”
Taki considers architecture “the mother of the arts”
exemplified by its axiom, “firmness, commodity, and
delight.” He cites Winston Churchill, who famously said,
“We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” He feels
that we still need to believe in and experience the beauty
in our lives, even at the age of 80, when the elderly often
welcome a new beginning as they continue to grow and
evolve.
His firm, which includes his architect wife, Diana, has
consistently refined its work to reflect environments,
styles, and cultures of the sponsoring clients, many of
whom are faith based. He looks forward to continuing
his work and says, “retirement communities provide us
with an opportunity to design a variety of building types.”
He has harnessed his vision to create environments and
spaces that foster the same sense of community that he
felt growing up—no doubt shaping the lives of those who
reside and work in his buildings. A well-designed building,
he continues, “represents a symphonic composition of space
and light, whose parts, exquisitely proportioned and finely
detailed, transforms it from mere shelter into an artistic
expression, stimulating the mind, elevating the spirit, and
nourishing the soul.” Portfolios of his projects are posted
on his firm’s website: tsomides.com.
Local projects include: Master plan/design for Dyer
Library-Saco Museum; The Cedars Campus, Portland;
Bayview Heights Senior Apartments on top of Munjoy
Hill, Portland; Ocean Front House, Pine Point; Peaks
Island Senior Housing and Health Clinic; and The Paul
Hazelton House Senior Housing Facility, Saco. Taki
named it to honor Bowdoin Professor Paul Hazelton,
a Thornton Distinguished Alumnus, who served as his
mentor and recruited he and classmates David Sherman
and John Wheaton to Bowdoin. New projects scheduled to
commence construction in 2020 include three-bedroom
senior cluster homes at Carleton-Willard Village, and
continuing work for Hillside Village CCRC.
Hillside Village CCRC – Keene, NH
Interior, Carleton, Willard Village – Bedford, MA
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