An excerpt from “An Architecture of Representation: Essays and Drawings Across 50 Years of the Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition.” This book is available for purchase here!
By Julien Meyret, AIA
This past year, the Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition received numerous drawings from dozens of countries and university programs. They are limited to works that are architectural in nature and are presented in a variety of media, from the simplest travel sketch to nearly lifelike depictions of imagined environments. In its 50th year, the competition is the oldest and most visible of its kind in the world. Through it all, a dedicated group of volunteers and staff at the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects has organized it. How did this event get its start and how has it adapted over the years? Is it still relevant as more of our drawings are produced digitally and the process becomes more automated?
The idea for an architectural delineation competition and exhibit was partly inspired by the late Jack Craycroft’s observation that his firm, Craycroft-Lacy & Partners, relied on producing lots of high-quality renderings to sell designs to clients and financial lenders. When Ken Roberts, a young architect responsible for many of these precise ink renderings, left the firm, Craycroft realized how important it was to recognize the contributions of area professionals in the art of architectural delineation. This realization resulted in the world’s longest-running architectural drawing competition.
As AIA Dallas chapter president in 1973, Craycroft reconnected with his former assistant and tapped him to organize the first delineation competition. Roberts, a native of the small town of Bastrop, Louisiana, was seen as a rising star at the time, having recently merged his firms Roberts-Savage Architects with Clutts & Parker to form Iconoplex, Inc. With the support of Jim Clutts, the incoming 1974 AIA Dallas chapter presidents, Roberts led the committee in putting together a successful event celebrating delineation, which received about 120 entries. It showcased dozens of works and testified to the high level of technical mastery in the drawings among young architects in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Later that year Roberts, who struggled with a chronic kidney disease, died suddenly at age 34. Shortly afterward, the AIA Dallas Executive Committee voted unanimously to rename the new delineation competition in his honor. In a tribute, Craycroft wrote, “He’s touched – not only in the processional sense, but in the way he met adversity – straight on, without complaint. the Ken Roberts Delineation Competition will be a fitting memorial to this young man who might have walked with the giants of our profession.”
The Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition (KRob for short) became an annual event that recognized professionals for excellence in architectural drawing…
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