Welcome to Future Talks by RTF, where we engage in conversations with design pioneers. Today, we have the pleasure of featuring Robert Kerr AIA, a licensed architect based in Los Angeles, California. With a Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Arkansas, including Urban Study in Rome, and a Masters of Architecture from Georgia Institute of Technology, Robert has garnered numerous awards for design excellence.
Since 2003, he has led his own globally recognized firm, ROBERT KERR architecture design, specializing in contemporary design solutions across various project types. Robert’s extensive background includes valuable experience with renowned firms like Hodgetts + Fung Architecture, Clive Wilkinson Architects, and Koning Eizenberg Architecture. Additionally, he has contributed to academia, serving as a Visiting Professor at Georgia Tech and Adjunct Professor at Woodbury University from 2005-2021.
Join us as we explore Robert Kerr’s architectural journey and insights.
RTF: Hi Robert, We are glad to have you as a guest on Future Talks by RTF. Thanks for joining us. Tell us about the architectural ideas of ROBERT KERR architecture design
Robert: Thank you for the opportunity to participate.
ROBERT KERR architecture design is committed to creating topical and responsive design solutions, and those always emerge from the same foundational ideas.Each project is site dependent with intense research to discover, determine and define all kinds of conditions around each property. These include views, environmental issues, topography, access, ecology, sustainability, etc…
Form is born from all that research. Our process is one of intense iteration, trial-and-error and refinement. My attitude is that nothing is a bad idea formally and quantity is the goal. We may do 50 3D studies in a day, come back and do that many again the next day, and the next, and the next… We stop when I feel we have explored and experimented properly for the building. It’s rarely a smooth process, but we enjoy the grittiness.
Form reveals itself, but we like to work to find it. I want our buildings to be complex assemblies of spaces and places. I also want discovery to happen for every visitor for the entire life of the building.
RTF: You have also taught design at various Architecture Universities. Is architectural teaching changing and evolving? What are your ideas about shaping future architects through tutorship?
Robert: I have always felt a responsibility to help aspiring architects so I taught for over 15 years (we also hire summer interns each year). Students need to learn how wonderful, difficult and rewarding architecture can be, and I do what I can to provide a bit of insight.
My fundamentals of architectural teaching are to present the possibilities of architecture to each student and help them develop the skills to express their own interests. I believe that’s how a student finds their own passion for architecture, because no one lasts in this profession without that passion. Then they can weave in personal points of view, technology, sociological ideas and outside influences to create the career they want.
Schools are now accessible to people with such varied backgrounds and experiences that the work I see is more diverse, interesting and expansive. So much of it is so wonderful and creative. I am very excited about the future of the profession as newer graduates exert more influence.
RTF: What was the initial spark that propelled you towards architecture and design?
Robert: As a young kid I was always artistically inclined and encouraged by my family to develop those skills. My first goal was to be an artist though I was too young to really know what that meant or how to achieve that career.
One day in school I happened to be talking to a teacher about these things and she also understood my curiosity about other subjects. She recommended I look into architecture, and I was immediately hooked. I was so excited this was a job people could do and it just seemed cool. I was fascinated that it was creative, required problem solving and the scale was so large. That was in the 5th grade when I was about 10 years old. That was it for me, and I never pursued any other career interest or path from that moment.
It is now the lens for everything in my life, and I will do it as long as I can.
(Sadly, I don’t remember the teacher’s name)
RTF: What is your favourite project to date and what makes it so?
Robert: Our projects are so personal and intensely created that it is hard for me to have an honest perspective on how I feel about them. My favorites are often the ones where I learned the most, and not always the ones with the most recognition. Or the ones that challenge me in ways I don’t expect.
I tend to say the best ones are where I see the most interesting reactions from the owners/users or the most unique ways they use them. I get satisfaction from the reaction and feedback of the users, and I always enjoy the moments of surprise when things turn out better or differently than I expected.
Sometimes my favorite moment is a color we choose, a material we place a certain way or the way the sun moves across the building.
RTF: How important is it for the designers to shrug off the rigidity in their approach towards design to be on the ever-evolving design bandwagon?
Robert: I have always believed that as long as I start from the fundamental ideas mentioned previously then the building will always be current, forward-thinking and singular. Each client, site, environment and program are unique so why shouldn’t the building? That is why our initial project research and investigations are so important.
This process forces us to be flexible and uniquely responsive without being stylish. We never want anything we do to be trendy so the goal is to continuously develop a creative voice in the contemporary world.
I have friends who are artists, in the entertainment industry and in other creative fields, and that helps me keep a permanent sense of curiosity. All of it has some impact as it filters through our process, but it can’t be explicit or literal.
RTF: What are your views on working collaboratively with clients, consultants and contractors?
Robert: We lead a rigorous collaborative process and I demand a positive attitude of respect from everyone involved in our projects. When a problem needs to be solved we want the best solution.
Sometimes there’s a bit of a learning curve with new consultants and contractors as they learn my expectations, and some have worked with us for over 20 years. They seem to appreciate the respect we give them that go along with our demands.
Since we use such an iterative design process we always show clients multiple options at every stage, and that fosters client collaboration. We are not afraid to explain how we make decisions and that also helps.
I think an architect has to work collaboratively to maximize the quality of the work. Everyone has to have the same focus on quality or the project suffers. There are too many things that can go wrong during the years these take and I maximize what I can control to minimize things that may go a bit wrong.
RTF: How do you look at innovation in the world of material and technology development through the lens of sustainability?
Robert: We are lucky to be practicing in a city and state (Los Angeles, CA) with a very temperate climate and some of the most progressive green building codes in the world. Owners are generally knowledgeable about sustainable benefits, and that makes our job easier.
Before even thinking about technology or materials we always start with a full environmental study to help guide how we will place a building on site, its orientation and other responses. Our goal on every project is to make it as passive as the program and client are comfortable doing.
For technology we use modeling software to do sun studies for our buildings for an entire 12 months so that we can study opening sizes, opening locations and how shading can be beneficial.
We also use it to show how we can change the architecture to create shadows that add to the design. I like to tell clients the sun is free and it is our job to find ways to make it a design element.
RTF: What is your perspective on the evolving role of architectural criticism and the influence of architectural critics in the digital age?
Robert: I began architecture school at a time when criticism was more theoretical and inaccessible to most people. It was also controlled by fewer people who had similar ideas about architecture. Today’s criticism comes from so many more points of view and from all over the world. That variety is better for everyone including critics, architects and general public.
I appreciate it more if I do not agree with a certain take, because it makes me think about something differently.
Contemporary architecture practice is significantly more complex than any time in history. Projects are larger, more complicated, more people are involved and more money is at stake.
Current architectural complexity gives a critic more topics to consider too. I want more people speaking about architecture’s value and importance, and I want them doing it through whatever lens they think is important.
I just love discovering all the different ways people think about architecture.
RTF: How important do you consider the role of platforms working towards providing recognition to such influential projects?
Robert: These platforms may be one of the most important innovations ever for the profession.
Not that long ago it was almost impossible to get work noticed unless you were practicing in a handful of large cities around the world. Fortunately, online platforms now give so many more architects avenues for international recognition. Moving beyond regional acclaim provides sustenance to quality design firms located anywhere in the world.
Importantly, they bring attention to locally responsive projects and that becomes a source of pride for smaller communities. Great architecture doesn’t just happen in large cities and it is wonderful more people are learning that..
Bringing attention to firms and their work all over the world will create opportunities for more great work everywhere.
RTF: What is your idea of rethinking the future in the realm of architecture and design?
Robert: We rethink the future with the attitude that every architectural rule-of-thumb is always ripe to be redefined. Nothing is sacred and everything can be improved or reinvented.
It’s a bit of a punk rock mindset, but it keeps us pushing what it means to make an interesting space.
If an architect is not rethinking the future then they are working in the past. That does not interest me.
Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. It has been a pleasure getting to know about you and your work. We’re sure that your insights will be highly valuable to our audience which includes architects and design students.
