Robin Partington (Robin Partington & Partners)
…two nails and a piece of string….
Thursday 13th October, 6pm, Robin Evans Room (M416)
Department of Architecture
University of Westminster
Robin Partington grew up in the Northwest of England surrounded by architects and engineers, which helped to nurture his interest in materials, how things are made and a healthy respect for the craftsmanship and skills involved. Robin joined Foster Associates in 1984 where he was responsible for a wide range of projects culminating in 30 St Mary Axe in the City of London (the ‘Gherkin’). Robin subsequently joined Hamiltons Architects in 2001 before forming his own practice Robin Partington & Partners (RPP) in October 2009.
RPP do not have a ‘house’ style and the practice is ‘built around people’, which helps to create a lively and supportive work environment which has been recognised through awards as a good employer.
In 2014 the practice established the Robin Partington & Partners Material Practice and Dissertation Awards in partnership with the Department of Architecture at the University of Westminster. To date over £10,000 has been generously gifted to our Undergraduate and MArch Students for the development of material prototypes/experiments and to support travel and other expenses in the pursuit of knowledge. In addition, RPP employees Yashin Kemal (Westminster alumnus) and Giovanni Beggio have assisted with final year degree and MArch technical tutorials.
Robin is going to talk about the realities of construction; ‘Concrete-iness’ and ‘Steel-iness’; Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax building; the Eiffel tower, galvanised steel handrails and how the Romans dealt with unruly architects!
For details contact Will McLean – w.f.mclean@westminster.ac.uk
Technical Studies website – www.technicalstudies.tumblr.com