HILYARD R. ROBINSON
Irwin Porter/Alexander Trowbridge
Paul Revere Williams/Vertner Tandy
African American AIA Fellow
SAY IT LOUD - Washington DC Exhibitor
Washington DC Based Designer
Bio:
Robinson taught architecture at Howard University from the 1920s to 1960s, and he also designed many campus buildings. The U.S. Department of the Interior commissioned Robinson to build the International Style Langston Terrace Dwellings, listed on the National Register of Historical Places, for which he gained prominence, and Robinson also served as an architectural consultant to the government of Liberia.
HILYARD R. ROBINSON
Bio:
Robins graduated from M Street High School and then studied at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Arts. During World War I Robinson served as a U.S. Army artillery officer where he spent time in Paris at the Armistice and observed the style of the buildings there. Upon his return to the United States, Robinson transferred to the University of Pennsylvania before eventually graduating from Columbia University in 1924 with a degree in architecture and working for several architectural firms and teaching at Howard University. In 1931 after he married Helena Rooks and completed a master's degree at Columbia, the Robinsons went to Europe to study in Germany, where Robinson was influenced by the Bauhaus style, as well as Scandinavia, France and elsewhere. Robinson taught architecture at Howard University from the 1920s to 1960s, and he also designed many campus buildings. The U.S. Department of the Interior commissioned Robinson to build the International Style Langston Terrace Dwellings, listed on the National Register of Historical Places, for which he gained prominence, and Robinson also served as an architectural consultant to the government of Liberia. Robinson died in 1986 at Howard University Medical Center. Robinson worked closely with other American architects such as Ralph A. Vaughn and Paul Williams
Year of Elevation:
1984
Featured Project Name:
Langston Terrace Dwellings
Featured Project Location:
Washington, DC
Featured Project Completion Date:
1936
Role in Featured Project:
Chief Architect
Featured Project Description:
Hoping to uplift the lives of residents, Robinson designed Langston Terrace Dwellings, the first federally-funded public housing project in D.C., in direct opposition to the tenements of prior decades. He created a low-rise, sleek development of 274 apartments and row houses in a setting that responded to its landscape and showed that publically funded housing could be aesthetically pleasing. Featured a central courtyard offering a gathering place for residents; playgrounds; and public art.
