DPZ Charlotte Staff Bios/Tom Low

Tom Low, AIA, CNU, LEED, is the Director of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company's Charlotte, North Carolina office, which he opened in 1995.

Low received his Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, and gained ten years of experience in architectural practice in Charlotte after completing his degree. In 1989, disenchanted with the making of architectural form detached from the principles of urbanism, he enrolled in the University of Miami for a Master's Degree in Architecture with a specialization in New Urbanism. As a student, he completed research grants on early twentieth-century town centers, and the "Traditional Neighborhood Development Ordinance," a trademark of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. and a crucial element in the firm's principles.

Since that time, Low has managed and completed over one hundred projects over almost two decades with DPZ winning awards from the American Institute of Architects, the Sierra Club, and the Environmental Protection Agency for Smart Growth Achievement.

Low is actively involved with projects, research, and education throughout the Carolinas. Tom lectures on town planning, early twentieth-century planning history, sustainability and urbanism, and school design. He has taught at the University of Miami School of Architecture, and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte School of Architecture, the College of Charleston, Clemson University, North Carolina State University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Through grants he received from the John Nolen Foundation he has completed a symposium on John Nolen's work in the southeast and a book on John Nolen's planning techniques. He recently completed the book Civic By Design: John Nolen's Lessons for New Urbanism.

Low is currently in his fourth year as Chair for the Charlotte Region Civic by Design Forum, and has led forums on school design starting the Katrina Inspired Learning Cottage Initiative. In 2007, he also started the Light Imprint Initiative, developing a framework for environmentally-sensitive engineering techniques in line with New Urban community design principles. He recently published the Light Imprint Handbook and the Light Imprint web site.