David HT Wong
Arts Architecture Artists Person
As a passionate and vocal community activist, David has served as a past board of the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and as a founder of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia. David was recently named by the Vancouver Sun newspaper as one of BCs “100 influential Chinese-Canadians”. Spending his free time cultivating his massive carnivorous plant collection, and sharing his love for frogs – through presentations at schools and at community gatherings -- David serves on a number of arts and cultural organizations, but his favourite is as an Advisor to the Californian amphibian conservation organization: www.SavetheFrogs.com. His first graphic novel, Escape to Gold Mountain, released to much acclaim in summer 2012.
As an Architect and Urban Ecologist, David Wong, founded his first architectural company in 1992, and in a few years, it became one of Singapore’s largest design firms. David has earned a reputation for designing ‘healthy buildings’ and for ‘place making’ – designing airports, houses, regional town centres, and destination resorts in over a dozen countries. For more than 3 decades, his background as a Biologist helped his team embrace sustainability, healing, and a respect for the environment. He enjoys the business of design, and complements his design skills with strong financial and administrative experience. Over 30 years of hands-on sustainable design experience, David has advised government and industry leaders on common sense ‘green initiatives’ that is healthy for business. Successes include some of China’s first green towers, one of Metro Vancouver’s first LEED Gold buildings. David is currently engaged on the creation of culturally appropriate and environmentally smart homes for First Nations’ communities. (website: www.davidwong.ca).