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Tong, Terry Collection
2014.-16  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access Statement
  • System of Arrangement
  • Biographical note
  • Preferred Citation
  • Publication Rights
  • Scope and Contents

  • Contributing Institution: University of California, Berkeley. College of Environmental Design. Environmental Design Archives
    Title: Terry Tong Collection
    Creator: Tong, Terry
    source: Tong, Terry
    Creator: Campbell & Wong Associates
    Creator: Wong, Worley K.
    Creator: Campbell, John Carden
    Identifier/Call Number: 2014.-16
    Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet: 1 document box and 1 flat file drawer
    Date (inclusive): circa 1943-1994
    Language of Material: English .

    Access Statement

    Collection is open for research.

    System of Arrangement

    The Collection is arranged into three series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, and Project Records. Within each series, original order has been maintained when evident.

    Biographical note

    Terry Tong was born in San Francisco on December 8, 1921. He attended the University of California at Berkeley (UCB) where he studied Architecture. Tong's studies were interrupted by World War II during which he served as part of the United States National Guard in Algeria, Italy, and France. Wounded in battle, he was able to return to the United States and resume his studies at UCB in 1946, graduating with his degree in 1949. During summer vacations while in Architecture school, Tong worked for various Bay Area firms seeking practical experience, including Campbell & Wong and Phillip Tomesello.
    Right out of school Tong was hired by Fred Whittlesey where he worked for less than a year before going to work for Campbell & Wong where he stayed for 13 years from 1949 until 1962. Tong became skilled at interior and exterior perspective drawings eventually being charged with the responsibility of doing the all of the presentation drawings for soliciting projects. While at Campbell & Wong, Tong continued his studies at the Henry George School of Economics on the politics of land usage; at the Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design for design color coordination fundamentals; and the UC Extension for environmental site designing and city planning in San Francisco. It was also during this time that Tong entered and won third place in the national Crane's Bathroom Design Competition. In 1958, Tong became an Associate of the Campbell & Wong practice. After Tong's and his associate Allen Fong's submission and subsequent winning concept for the California Governor's Mansion Competition for Governor Pat Brown (which was never realized), he left the firm and opened his own practice in 1962.
    From 1962 to the mid-1970s, Tong operated STUDIO Tsq as a sole practitioner. His practice focused primarily on residences in the Bay Area but also included commercial and multi-residential projects. Notable projects include: On Lok Senior Center in San Francisco and the Cal Med Center in Stockton. Before retiring, Tong worked as a design consultant at the Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco. Terry Tong died in 2016.
    Sources:
    Terry Tong Autobiography, 2009 (unpublished).
    Terry Tong, interview by Waverly Lowell and Emily Vigor, December 22, 2014.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of Item], Terry Tong Collection, Environmental Design Archives, University of California, Berkeley.

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the Curator.

    Scope and Contents

    The Terry Tong Collection spans the dates circa 1943 to 1994 and contains materials that document his academic and architectural career. The Collection is organized into three series: Personal Papers comprised of biographical information and Tong's architecture course work while at UCB; Professional Papers containing a clipping and firm portfolio; and the final series Project Records consisting of drawings, correspondence, photographs, reports, clippings and ephemera which document 39 projects Tong designed while working for Campbell & Wong and during the time he operated his private practice.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Architecture -- 20th Century -- California -- San Francisco Bay Area.
    Dwellings--Design and construction.
    Older people--Housing.
    Tong, Terry