ROBERT ARTHUR KING

New York School of Interior Design
African American AIA Fellow

SAY IT LOUD - Washington DC Exhibitor
New York Based Designer

Bio:

The great architect became an adult education teacher and also worked as an engineer on the camera and radar system for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing.

ROBERT ARTHUR KING

Bio:

Robert Arthur King is a registered architect, certified interior designer and photographer. He was born on August 6, 1945, in Harlem, New York City. King had not intended to go to college. Growing up, his teachers and others told him that he wasn't smart enough and that he should do something with his hands. Seeing others fail in school further discouraged him. So King became an auto mechanic. One day while was working on a taxi, the driver told him he was very smart and should get more education. King entered the American Academy of Aeronautics, planning to become an airplane mechanic. Finding his subsequent engineering courses at the City College of New York easy, King earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 1967. In 1974 he earned his Bachelors of Architecture degree from Columbia University. The great architect became an adult education teacher and also worked as an engineer on the camera and radar system for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing. He has been on the faculty of NYSID since 1989 teaching Building Codes and other classes. In 2014, he was inducted into the AIA College of Fellows. An architect specializing in row houses, he has completed historic restorations and preservation work on more than 200 buildings. His photographs have been published in Faces in Stone and Animals in Stone.

Object:

Object Five - Alternative career, volunteer work with organizations not directly connected with the built environment, or service to society

Year of Elevation:

2014

Featured Project Name:

Faces in Stone: Architectural Sculpture in New York City

Featured Project Location:

Unbuilt

Featured Project Completion Date:

2008

Role in Featured Project:

Sole Photographer

Featured Project Description:

This collection of one hundred architectural details features brief introductions and contextual photographs to show the buildings on which the ornaments appear, the addresses, and transportation information. While others on the street are staring at their smartphones, King is looking up, capturing the sculptures that ever-so-subtly change the space all around us, uploading the images to his Instagram, collecting them in books.