Architect Will Bruder to Present 'Defining Place' Lecture on Nov. 4

Photo by Bill Timmerman

Blackbird House, in Aspen, Colorado.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Will Bruder will present a lecture at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, as part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design lecture series.

He is principal at Will Bruder Architects in Phoenix.

In this lecture, titled "Defining Place: Celebrating Context and Community," Bruder will discuss how the responsibility of an architect is to define and celebrate the pragmatic and poetic needs of the client. A most important component of that charge, which is too often overlooked, is the search for the defining markers of context and community from which a project's aesthetic presence grows.

He will also discuss how he defines "place" through natural, historic and mythical contexts. The power of these elements informs the efforts to create the shelters, pavilions and civic icons that shape a community's architecture. One looks for the extraordinary in the ordinary and the sensuous in the simple. In the end, architecture is made of this time and place, but also for the ages.

Self-trained as an architect, Bruder started his education with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He supplemented his studio art education with further study of structural engineering, philosophy, art history and urban planning. He followed this with architectural apprenticeship under Paolo Soleri and Gunnar Birkerts.

In 1974, Bruder opened his first studio in Arizona, and he continues to lead and mentor students of design from his firm in downtown Phoenix. He has led work for more than 500 commissions. His work ranges from large-scale civic and cultural projects to private and multi-family housing.

Bruder has received prestigious national awards, and he has lectured and been published all around the world. He has held several visiting chair positions, including those at the University of Southern California, Illinois Institute of Technology, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Toronto, University of Virginia, Portland State University and University of Oregon.

This is the Ernie Jacks Lecture, sponsored by Marlon Blackwell Architects.

The public is invited to attend the lecture. Admission is free, but there is limited seating. For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.