I hardly Knew Robin fee personally except shaking hands in a restaurant was a warm experience. But his presence in the profession was known over 3 decades & more: 1960-1990s. He embodied much of the complexity that characterised architecture over this period. Complexity? I can only summarise- the profession was profoundly affected by the change in urban scale; the changes in perception with modernism profoundly challenged on several fronts; by the growing social & political crisis in our country & beyond; by the challenges in the economy; by the growing awareness that Johannesburg’s history needed valuation; & that I’m sure is only the briefest of summaries.
I was intrigued to learn that Robin as a schoolboy knew Stanley Furner in retirement in Tzaneen. There’s hardly a young architect in the 20s & 30s not influenced by Furner & his name was still bandied around in the 60s & more.
Fee’s career,working in New York under SOM (Skidmore Owings & Merril), arguably the most advanced practice anywhere @ that time, & then with SOM @ the Carlton Centre site was involved in what I have called the”major transfer of technology & culture from New York to Jhb”.
Drawing of the Carlton Centre and Hotel
Fee has left a massive imprint on Jhb but the...
