There
is a language in architecture that everyone
understands. This understanding, which has
developed throughout architectural history,
implies that architecture responds to the
region, the heritage, the culture, the location
in which a building is situated, the weather
and terrain, as well as considering the
functions and uses of that building. Robertson
defines his work by filtering these icons
of architecture through the New
Beaux Arts idiom. Historically, the
Beaux Arts has been an interpretation of
historic styles. What is unique now is that
Robertson is interpreting architectural
styles, which had never been interpreted
through the Beaux Arts principals and idioms.
This is what defines The New
Beaux Arts. This vernacular gives each
composition, each structure a spirit of
timelessness that is created through a sense
of scale and a spirit of “wholeness.”
This spirit of wholeness, the precursor
of Modern Architecture, gives the sense
that the building is carved from a whole
rather than being a whole placed into a
void as would be with Modern Architecture.
Modern Architecture is a phenomenon that
differs from all of the previous architectural
design eras of the Western World. Modern
architectural concepts do not respond to
the history, a sense of place or scale,
or to the surrounding location, as is evident
in all previous architectural styles. Robertson
revives the principals of design preceding
the era of Modern Architecture. The architecture
he creates will become part of the heritage
of the region in which it is built, thus
making it a timeless and enduring work which
will itself become an important part of
architectural history.
