Driven by Design
Marcy Marro, Managing Editor,
Posted
01/09/2012
Richard Robison, AIA, CCS,
knew very early on that all he wanted to do was to be an
architect. "There is nothing else that I'm aware of
that combines so many different challenging parts of the
brain, as does architecture," he says. "I'm happy to be where
I am." An expert in historic and contemporary building systems
and construction, Robison is a former Peace
Corps volunteer and is currently a Materials
Technology Specialist for Atlanta-based Lord, Aeck &
Sargent.
Inspired to become an architect by Thomas Jefferson,
Robison adds, "I think I fell in love with buildings, great
buildings. We live in our buildings. We work, we sleep, we
play in our buildings. And I found myself drawing and
sketching and sketching and drawing, and I came to the
conclusion that architecture was where I wanted to be. And
I've never looked back."
A graduate of the University of
Kansas, Robison's first job out of college was with
the Peace Corp, where he designed small city plans and
subdivisions in Khouribga, Morocco. Robison explains that at
that time, the King of Morocco, Hassan II, was interested in
improving the living conditions of the rural poor that had
moved to the city in great numbers.
While in Venezuela, Robison and his wife both worked at a
prominent firm before opening their own firm. They did some
work for the multinational companies that were there, as
well as some development work in housing and commerce. In
1982, when the Venezuelan economy tanked, they moved home to
Kansas with their two young daughters.
In Kansas, Robison worked for an engineering and
architecture firm, focusing on heavy civil, municipal and
engineering type work, with projects consisting of potable and
sewage treatment plants, highways, pavements,
airfields, bridges and more. In 1987, he received an
offer he couldn't refuse from Heery International
in Atlanta, where he went on to co-author the American
Institute of Architects' SweetSpec and Heery International's
SpecSystem, the first automated, interactive,
knowledge-based specifications writing systems for architects
and engineers. In 2002, Robison was awarded the Ben John
Small Award, the Construction Specifications Institute's
highest honor.
Robison joined Lord, Aeck &
Sargent in Atlanta in 1992, where he is currently a
principal and director of specifications. "My role in
the firm is assisting the various project teams
with their endeavors," he says. "I started off life as
a designer and was a designer for about 10 years, and at
some point I transitioned to specifications, detailing and
constructability and have been there for the rest of my
career. So my job is to help people get it right and on those
occasions when we don't, help them to stop digging and
start climbing."
Robison enjoys working with clients who believe in
excellence. An adequate budget and a simple program can result
in a superb project if you have an architect joined by a
client who believes in excellence, he says.
If he wasn't an architect, Robison says he would either be
a musician or involved in theater, designing sets and be
involved with producing or directing. At one point, he says
that he seriously considered working for The Walt Disney Co.
in their design department. "I think movie design and the
way that movies are put together are a fascinating endeavor
today," Robison notes. "I think that there's a lot architects
can learn from each of these three fields of endeavor."
Robison is inspired by great courage. "I'm inspired by
devotion to a cause, and that applies not only to life but to
architecture as well," Robison says. "I don't think that the
courage or that devotion has to be loud or bombastic. In
fact, most often, it's not. It's simple, it's dedicated,
it's single minded, it's quiet, it's unassuming, but itgets
the job done. And any truly great endeavor has people that
combine those qualities to bring the job to a successful
conclusion. And the people that exhibit that kind of devotion
are the people that are really inspiring."
Arch Connect
What's on your iPod while you work?
A collection of jazz and classical music.
What do you do on weekends?
I sketch ideas for things that will never be built,
and I've been doing that for about 50 years. Apart
from that, there's cooking, there's yard work. My
wife and I enjoy theater and music very much.
What is your favorite book?
My favorite book would be one of hundreds, but if I had one
that I had to carry to a desert isle, it would be "Jubilee:
One Hundred Years of the Atlantic." That was published in 1957
as a retrospective of 100 years of the Atlantic magazine.
What's your favorite app on your phone or iPad?
I am app-less. My son-in-law has written
Rumpelstiltskin HD, so I probably ought to say that that
is my favorite app. But I am actually app-less.
Where is your favorite place to vacation?
The Home Ranch in Clark, Colo.
What historical figure would you most like to have
dinner with and why?
I have always wanted to have dinner with Alistair Cooke. I
think he was probably the greatest conversationalist of our
time and he would be the perfect dinner guest. He was, of
course, the longtime host of Mobil Masterpiece Theatre, back
when it was Mobil Masterpiece Theatre.