Architect C. David Robinson dies
Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

C. David Robinson, an architect who left his mark all over Bay Area with buildings he designed, died at his Sausalito home Saturday from the complications of ALS, a debilitating illness also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

Mr. Robinson was 72.

Services will be Wednesday.

Mr. Robinson worked for several San Francisco architectural firms and among his achievements are museums and private residences, including the Center for the Arts in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens, the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, and major renovations of Temple Emanu-el and the landmark Cliff House in San Francisco.

His restoration of the soaring, domed Temple Emanu-el was described as "flawless" by the late Chronicle architectural critic Allan Temko.

David Williams, who knew Mr. Robinson for 44 years and was his partner for 14 of them, said Mr. Robinson had "very, very high standards in terms of quality and design. He was hard to please, but generous and selfless in supporting the work and accomplishments of others."

Mr. Robinson was also active in cultural affairs and was on the boards of the San Francisco Art Institute, the University Art Museum at UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the California College of the Arts, and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. He received SPUR's Silver Spur award for public service.

Chalfant David Robinson was born in New York in 1936, and graduated with honors from Princeton University with a degree in art history in 1957.

He then served as a Marine Corps officer for three years. He received a master of architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965 and began his architectural career in San Francisco with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

In 1970, he was one of the co-founders of Robinson, Mills & Williams, which grew to be one of the five largest architectural firms in San Francisco. He joined Polshek and Partners as partner in charge of the San Francisco office, and in 1997 he founded C. David Robinson Architects.

He was a man of many parts - he and his wife, Mary, had a significant collection of contemporary art and photographs. Their collection of 19th century photographs is part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Robinson was also a star athlete in college, where he was captain of Princeton's ice hockey team and its crew teams. His family noted that he was good enough to participate in the crew trials for the 1960 Olympics. He also played rugby both in Pennsylvania and for the San Francisco Olympic Club.

He is survived by Mary Robinson, his wife of 43 years; a daughter, Annie Robinson Woods of San Francisco; two sons , Ward Robinson of Los Angeles, and Steven Robinson of New York; two brothers, Hamilton Robinson of New York, and Will Robinson of Maryland; and three sisters, Sandy Righter of Boston, Marshall Bickel of Frederick, Md., and Randle Bitnar of Bozeman, Mont. He is also survived by three grandchildren.

A service will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the Temple Emanu-el, at Arguello Boulevard and Lake Street in San Francisco.

The family prefers donations to the C. David Robinson Endowment Fund at the Bay Area Chapter of the ALS Association, 565 Commercial St., San Francisco, CA 94111.