Robert Kennard, Architect for Humanity
Robert A. Kennard, FAIA (1920 – 1995) led an extraordinary life as an architect, mentor, and humanitarian. The son of a Pullman car porter, Kennard defied steep odds to build a successful career, design more than 700 structures, and create one of the longest-running African American-owned architecture firms in the western U.S. He “believed that people were more important than the spaces they occupied,” wrote USC alum Jerome Robinson in his master’s thesis, An Odyssey in B-Flat: Rediscovering the Life and Times of Master Architect Robert A. Kennard.
Jerome passed away before we could interview him for this podcast, yet he left a trove of stellar research and archival audio. We bring you some of it in this episode. We also hear personal stories of Kennard from his daughter Gail, who still runs the firm he formed in 1957. This episode is longer than usual (around 40 minutes), but stick with it–you’ll find it worth your while, or your money back!
Robert Kennard at his first office [1957] in Los Angeles. Courtesy of the Kennard Estate.
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Jerome Robinson (1963 – 2021) was a man of many talents, boundless enthusiasm, and deep faith. He earned his Master of Heritage Conservation degree from USC in 2018. A longtime contract rights analyst at The Walt Disney Company, Jerome shared his love of history and architecture as a volunteer for the Los Angeles Conservancy and the Santa Monica Conservancy. He was working on a book on Robert Kennard at the time of his death from lymphoma, the same disease that claimed Kennard’s life. Work on the book continues. |
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Gail Kennard is president of Kennard Design Group, the firm her late father Robert Kennard founded in 1957. She has a lifelong interest in architecture and historic preservation. She has served on the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission for more than a decade. She is also an advisor to the Getty Conservation Institute’s L.A. African American Historic Places Initiative, and a member of the City’s Civic Memory Working Group. Gail previously served on the Board of Councilors of the USC School of Architecture. |
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Trudi Sandmeier is the Director of Heritage Conservation Programs at the USC School of Architecture and co-host of the podcast. |
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Podcast co-host Cindy Olnick recently interviewed Jonathan about his thesis and career since. Cindy is a communications pro who loves L.A. and thinks historic places are magical. |
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Our producer Willa Seidenberg is a longtime professor of radio journalism for the USC Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism. She is also earning her Master of Heritage Conservation degree! |
Want to know more about some of the ideas and places mentioned in this episode? Check out:
[Thesis] An Odyssey in B-Flat: Rediscovering the Life and Times of Master Architect Robert A. Kennard, by Jerome Robinson
Interview of Robert A. Kennard by Wesley Henderson for the Center for Oral History Research, University of California, Los Angeles, 1990-91
“These Walls CAN Talk: Heritage and Hope at the Mafundi Building in Watts,” previous Save As episode on one of Kennard’s buildings
Kennard Design Group, architecture and planning firm founded by Robert Kennard
RAW International, architecture and planning firm founded by Roland Wiley
SoCal NOMA (Southern California Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects); Kennard was a founding member (after forming a precursor, the Minority Architecture and Planning Organization)
Los Angeles Inner City Cultural Center (Kennard was an original board member)
Chávez Ravine: A Los Angeles Story, Zinn Education Project (re. the Elysian Heights public housing plan Kennard worked on early in his career)
