Art and design have always been a big part of my family’s life, dating back at least three generations. I grew up in Benton, Arkansas, until I graduated High School, immersed deeply in learning about and creating art. This also led me to my, then, future career in Architecture.
Upon graduating High School I decided that Architecture would be a great outlet for my creative nature, so I moved to Fayetteville to attend the University of Arkansas. Being from a small town, this turned out to be an exciting new experience for me. The most noticeable difference was of course the thousands more people that populated this school compared to my little Harmony Grove High (with a graduating class of 43). The second thing that I noticed once school had started was that every one here actually wanted to be in school (well, most at least) and were usually very into discovering more about what ever it was that they were studying. I totally related to that and immediately felt comfortable in this environment, even more so in the School of Architecture. Most of the people in this program had a similar background as me, so ideas, methods, and new skills bounced around very rapidly and frequently. So this helped me learned more ways to shape my abilities using form and function as tools to create. Even though the courses took up a lot of my time, I still took part in art courses to round out my education. With in a year of being at the U of A, I knew that architecture was where I wanted to be.
Another big part in my education was the year that all architecture students have to spend in Rome, Italy. There I discovered a new up close and personal relationship with buildings and art that I have studied for a large part of my life. It also opened up the eyes of a small town boy to the larger world that I had not experienced yet. By no means was I under traveled at this point, but never out side of the United States and for so long. I truly delved into the culture and became one of the locals for a while. I had never taken Italian as a language so I did have to overcome that with some fast language courses on the weekends that at least got me around and helped me stay fed. Over all though, the best part was the Italian studies course that led us around Italy with our very informed instructor, Emilio, who navigated the entire class through out the country showing us things not too many Americans have ever seen. That semester is one that I will never forget.
I started working in firms as a student intern when I was in my third year, and had continued to do so every summer and any time I had between my courses at the University. This is when I truly knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was working on actual buildings that would eventually become reality. This put a new sense of excitement and importance into what I was doing that I didn’t quiet feel in the school, where you could just about do anything as long as it made sense to do so. Now looking back, I think almost any architect would give anything to have that back after a few years of being held back by budgets, codes, and program restraints. But then every thing was new and I was having great time gaining that new experience.
After graduating in Fayetteville, I stayed in Fayetteville working for James Key, Architect on a full time schedule for the first time in my new career. Getting involved with a project on a full time basis allows for a lot of new aspects to pop up for me to overcome and learn. After almost a year there I was given the opportunity to move to Glasgow, Scotland where I started working for Gibb Architects. There I gained very valuable knowledge of how architectural practices worked in Europe. This was an exciting adventure but was definitely not the same as home, so after working there for a year I decided to come back to Arkansas and replant my roots in Little Rock.
When I moved to Little Rock I started to look for a position in a firm that would allow me to finish up my Internship, but the job market was not so great at that time, and nothing ever arose at that point. Fortunately a friend introduced me to a few residential contractors who needed home designs and the construction documents that go along with it for Hurricane Lake Estates. The residential design market ended up taking off for me and I was busy for several years doing upscale residences for families who wanted to build a new house. This distracted me from my over all goal, which was to finish up my Internship and becoming a certified architect. After a while things got slow in the residential side and I later got back into an architectural firm to finish up my Internship hours. I am now half way through taking my architectural exam, as well as a local artist here in Little Rock.
Upon graduating High School I decided that Architecture would be a great outlet for my creative nature, so I moved to Fayetteville to attend the University of Arkansas. Being from a small town, this turned out to be an exciting new experience for me. The most noticeable difference was of course the thousands more people that populated this school compared to my little Harmony Grove High (with a graduating class of 43). The second thing that I noticed once school had started was that every one here actually wanted to be in school (well, most at least) and were usually very into discovering more about what ever it was that they were studying. I totally related to that and immediately felt comfortable in this environment, even more so in the School of Architecture. Most of the people in this program had a similar background as me, so ideas, methods, and new skills bounced around very rapidly and frequently. So this helped me learned more ways to shape my abilities using form and function as tools to create. Even though the courses took up a lot of my time, I still took part in art courses to round out my education. With in a year of being at the U of A, I knew that architecture was where I wanted to be.
Another big part in my education was the year that all architecture students have to spend in Rome, Italy. There I discovered a new up close and personal relationship with buildings and art that I have studied for a large part of my life. It also opened up the eyes of a small town boy to the larger world that I had not experienced yet. By no means was I under traveled at this point, but never out side of the United States and for so long. I truly delved into the culture and became one of the locals for a while. I had never taken Italian as a language so I did have to overcome that with some fast language courses on the weekends that at least got me around and helped me stay fed. Over all though, the best part was the Italian studies course that led us around Italy with our very informed instructor, Emilio, who navigated the entire class through out the country showing us things not too many Americans have ever seen. That semester is one that I will never forget.
I started working in firms as a student intern when I was in my third year, and had continued to do so every summer and any time I had between my courses at the University. This is when I truly knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I was working on actual buildings that would eventually become reality. This put a new sense of excitement and importance into what I was doing that I didn’t quiet feel in the school, where you could just about do anything as long as it made sense to do so. Now looking back, I think almost any architect would give anything to have that back after a few years of being held back by budgets, codes, and program restraints. But then every thing was new and I was having great time gaining that new experience.
After graduating in Fayetteville, I stayed in Fayetteville working for James Key, Architect on a full time schedule for the first time in my new career. Getting involved with a project on a full time basis allows for a lot of new aspects to pop up for me to overcome and learn. After almost a year there I was given the opportunity to move to Glasgow, Scotland where I started working for Gibb Architects. There I gained very valuable knowledge of how architectural practices worked in Europe. This was an exciting adventure but was definitely not the same as home, so after working there for a year I decided to come back to Arkansas and replant my roots in Little Rock.
When I moved to Little Rock I started to look for a position in a firm that would allow me to finish up my Internship, but the job market was not so great at that time, and nothing ever arose at that point. Fortunately a friend introduced me to a few residential contractors who needed home designs and the construction documents that go along with it for Hurricane Lake Estates. The residential design market ended up taking off for me and I was busy for several years doing upscale residences for families who wanted to build a new house. This distracted me from my over all goal, which was to finish up my Internship and becoming a certified architect. After a while things got slow in the residential side and I later got back into an architectural firm to finish up my Internship hours. I am now half way through taking my architectural exam, as well as a local artist here in Little Rock.
Kenneth D. Roberts
Phone: 501.413.1471
Email: email@kennethdroberts.com
Phone: 501.413.1471
Email: email@kennethdroberts.com
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COPYWRIGHT 2009 BY KENNETH D. ROBERTS
