Benjamin C. Thompson, FAIA, died from heart disease August 17 at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 84.

Boston Globe architecture critic Robert Campbell, FAIA, credits Thompson with the advent of the transformation of rundown and ramshackle warehouses into a concept we now hold dear: indoor-outdoor downtown malls and marketplaces. The commercial and popular success of Thompson's historic rehabilitation of Boston's old Quincy Market into the new and vibrant Faneuil Hall spawned for the architect similar renewal projects in other cities, such as the Harborplace in Baltimore and South Street Seaport in New York City.

The AIA's 1992 Gold Medalist, Thompson's rich career focused on historic restoration and adaptive reuse of urban areas and buildings. He is the founder of two architecture practices, the Architect's Collaborative (TAC) in 1946, with Walter Gropius, FAIA, and six associates in Cambridge; and Benjamin Thompson & Associates (BTA) in 1966. He taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and, in 1963, Gropius (his mentor and recipient of the 1959 AIA Gold Medal) chose Thompson to serve as his successor as department chair. In the 1960s, Thompson launched a well-known retail furniture enterprise, Design Research (D|R), which helped introduce the U.S. to Marimekko fabrics and fashions from Finland. In 1970, D|R moved into a multistory, entirely glass-walled showroom (now a Crate & Barrel), which he called a "container" for the "natural chaos and unpredictability of life," Campbell writes.

Context played a prominent role in Thompson's work, as he believed structures should "reveal the evolution of buildings over time, in response to growth, changing uses, and new techniques," according to the Encyclopedia of Architecture. While Thompson's practice first focused on New England he soon applied his style to commissions across the country and around the world. He also oversaw many academic and cultural projects, including the Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul; Harvard's Gutman Library and Harvard Yard dormitories; and the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, D.C.

Thompson, a St. Paul native, first studied at the University of Virginia before transferring to Yale, where he received his BArch in 1941. Following graduation, Thompson served five years in the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant on a destroyer escort and later with the O.S.S. He became a Fellow of the Institute in 1975. Jane McC. Thompson, Assoc. AIA, his wife, was his partner at BTA and earlier at Design Research. In 1993, Thompson suffered a stroke and retired from active practice. His partners then divided into two offices, Thompson Design Group, headed by Jane Thompson, and BTA Architects.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.