Architecture of Will Bruder

In celebration of his 50 plus years in practice, architect Will Bruder is pleased to share this selection of his most-exemplary projects, presented through hundreds of gorgeous photographs, drawings, and original sketches.

Influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as Paolo Soleri, Bruce Goff and Gunnar Birkerts, Bruder opened his own design studio in 1974. His self-built house/studio on the desert edge of Phoenix garnered a Record Houses of 1977 design award. 

A Fellowship in Architecture at the American Academy in Rome was a career turning-point permitting several months of intense reflection from a studio overlooking Rome, and travel throughout Europe to study historic and contemporary architecture.

Filled with fresh perspective, Bruder won the commission to design the 280,000 square foot Phoenix Central Library. It opened in 1995. Cultural, civic and private commissions followed, as did opportunities to travel, lecture, and teach. The library was awarded the AIA 25 Year Building Award in 2021.

This superb collection is divided into two sections: pre-Rome Prize projects, presented in black and white, and post-Rome projects dating from 1987 to buildings still currently under construction, presented in colour. Scholarly essays and candid conversations with colleagues round out this long-awaited Bruder monograph.

For more than 50 years Will Bruder has explored inventive and contextually-exciting architectural solutions in response to site opportunities and client needs. His work celebrates the craft of building in a manner not typical of contemporary architecture.
All contributors: Essay by Reed Kroloff; Essay by Robert McCarter; Scott Jarson and Will Bruder dialogue.