Robert J. Kraus, II
Designs That Make The Difference.

• attended Laconia High School, Rosendale, WI
• graduated 2002, BFA Interior Architecture + Design
• currently works at Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects, + is pursuing a Masters of Architecture at UNLV and LEED certification [leadership in energy + environmental design]

Kraus

Q. What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up?

A. As a child I wanted to be a stunt man with rough and tough calloused hands. As an adolescent, it was a heavy metal dude. When I was a teenager, I thought I would be a Marine until I read Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic. From there on, it was all art related.

Q. What is your first memorable experience with art and design?

A. My first experience that actually meant something was when I was around four or five making craft projects in my Lutheran Sunday School. I noticed that what you make for people can make them happy.

McCarran Satellite Control Tower, McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, NV

A. This is a very profound question. I could never be totally concise with how deeply MIAD has affected me. A better way to position this question is to talk about how MIAD influenced my thought process. MIAD gave me a drive, determination, and confidence to achieve what I demanded of myself. It helped me realize that I could have a positive impact upon the communities around me. The high standards of excellence expected of me (along with my classmates) was difficult to figure out at first, but I am grateful the faculty demanded nothing less than excellence from us.

Q. What was the most valuable thing you learned at MIAD?

A. Nobody is better than you at what you are special at. It is necessary to recognize someone’s efforts when they have made a more valiant effort in excellence and the quality of their work. If you are consumed with being the “best of class” you will never find your own personal voice as an artist, and I found that loathing imperfection is the deadliest flaw an artist can become consumed by. Take chances, be daring and passionate about what you believe in. I have found that the anticipation of new creative experiences (along with my personal faith) are the things that make me eager to get out of bed and make a difference.

It can be overwhelming at times trying to believe you are affecting anything in the world that you might see as imperialistic, aristocratic, hyper-materialistic, pretentious, ignorant, or just plain unfair. If you make the right choices, are a little lucky and steadfast to your personal faiths, you will achieve your goals in some relative manner. MIAD is an excellent place for this -- whatever the cost. It is a privilege not only just to go to this school, but more importantly being able to leave it with a degree and the ability to chase after your dreams. You will not believe how sacred some of the magic you will experience in that school will become once you leave it.

Regional Justice Center, Las Vegas, NV

Q. If you had to sum up your job in a single sentence, what would it be?

A. I work for Tate Snyder Kimsey Architects, a community oriented firm filled with people who are immensely ardent about the nature of their work.

Q. What are your goals for the future, in art/design and in life?

A. This is a very personal question. My goals lie in heaven. I will only become at peace until I meet my maker, beg him for mercy, and let into his kingdom. Until then, I ask for him to give me his grace and strength, and share it with as many people as I can.

Other goals are to become a registered architect, make a home and family, and become a professor in the later decades of my life. Most importantly, I want to give back to communities the things that have greatly improved and changed the quality of my own life, and pass on the skills of an artisan MIAD has bequeathed me with.

A. The Interior Architecture + Design Program at MIAD is definitely world class. To learn so candidly from an architect like Robert Lynch is a very rare opportunity in this country. Comparatively, I would have to argue that you are missing out on a lot if you decide to study Interior Architecture on a technical or university level. For example -- with my MIAD degree, as a Graduate student, I can confidently start teaching the foundations level courses for the Interior Architecture program here, and show them things that nobody in that program in this school has ever been exposed to -- at least from what I have seen in my brief time here.

Regional Animal Campus, Las Vegas, NV

Arbor View High School, Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas Springs Preserve, Las Vegas, NV