Andrew Holmes delivers Robin Evans Lecture 2022 at Westminster’s Marylebone Hall

The Robin Evans Lecture series supports outstanding scholarship on the history of architecture and associated studies. It celebrates work that pushes the boundaries between imagination and architecture, building on the work of the late Robin Evans. 

Holmes is best known for his photo realistic colour drawings exploring the anonymous mobile infrastructure of cities. His work also encompasses photography, film and design, and spans fifty-five years.

Accompanied by a series of intense images and visual effects, Holmes used the subject of the talk, From Ink to Light, to trace his extraordinary career from young student of architecture in the 1960s to the era of digital images. As a brilliant draughtsman, Holmes was invited to produce images for designs such as the Pompidou Centre in Paris, which pushed the technological boundaries of the time.

Holmes mapped the theme of drawing onto the people that have influenced his life, starting in Bromsgrove and its engineering legacy, studying at the Architectural Association in London where he refined his skill in ink, moving to the vibrancy of New York, and making the countless trips to California whose natural light enabled a profound study of a system in motion using photography and film. The lecture also explored themes of music and popular culture, with their connection to customised bikes and trucks, and the individual brilliance of their construction.

Whilst travelling, Holmes obsessively captured in photographs what he saw.  The colour pencil drawings re-present the feelings he felt on first seeing these scenes.  To convey the intensity each A1-sized image takes over 300 hours to make.

Around 100 people attended the lecture in person, with another 40 watching online. A drinks reception in the Robin Evans room followed the lecture. 

Learn more about Architecture, Interiors and Urban Design courses at Westminster.