The Story of Will Bruder [PART 1] // Architecture Interview

Interview with accomplished Arizona architect, Will Bruder.
Filmed July 2019.
About Will Bruder:
For 46 years Will Bruder has explored inventive and contextually exciting architectural solutions in response to a site’s opportunity and the user needs. His work celebrates the craft of building in a manner not typical of contemporary architecture. Through his creative use of materials and light, Will is renowned for his ability to raise the ordinary to the extraordinary. Opening his first Arizona studio in 1974, Will relocated his studio to downtown Portland, Oregon in the spring of 2019. He has led work for over 650 commissions, received prestigious national awards as well as lectured and been published all over the world. He has held visiting chairs at MIT, IIT, Yale, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin/Milwaukie, University of Toronto, University of Virginia, Portland State University, and University of Oregon.Self-trained as an architect, Will has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree 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 apprenticeships under Paolo Soleri and Gunnar Birkerts. He was a Rome Prize Advanced Design Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in 1987 and was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) in 2013.
[Source: Will Bruder Architects, willbruderarch...]
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[@catsarecoolfr]

Wow what a great talk,I appreciate your work!!

[@joevarga5982]

I toured a home that he designed in Prescott, AZ. The property is 2+ acres, but the house is FOUR stories high as if it were on a tiny lot. It has 4 BR and 3,242 sq. ft. but only a 2-car garage.
Woodpeckers have peppered the exterior wood siding with holes all the way to the top floor. Repairing the damage or painting the house would require either scaffolding or a ladder to reach 4 stories. If the ladder fell, you would die. Period.
The home is built into a hillside, so the lower level is half-buried in the ground. You enter the fancy glass front door at basement level. The foyer has a low ceiling and opens to an ugly laundry room. Not kidding. On the left there's a bedroom, a storage room and a spiral staircase. On the right is a door to the garage. The master bedroom is all the way up on the 4th floor which is a LOT of climbing.
You have to climb stairs from the basement to get to the tiny living room and large kitchen. The kitchen has what appear to be large wall cabinets but they don't actually open. WTH? There's a huge greenhouse-like wall of glass in the kitchen which offers a view... of a concrete patio wall and an ugly hillside. The window faces South, so it turns the home into solar furnace. The heat travels straight up to the other floors like a chimney since they're all open to this area. The master bedroom on the top floor is very hot as a result.
The third floor has 2 bedrooms. These two bedrooms and the master on the 4th floor lack privacy because they're open to the kitchen, separated only by drapes. This is a feature often found on homes with views, like waterfront homes, where they try to provide a view to every room by not having a full-height wall. It's kind of senseless here because the view is quite lame.
The 4th floor is the master suite. There are unsightly furring strips all over the interior walls and ceilings throughout the house. Everything is at crazy angles. The materials are cheap (apart from the concrete) and the workmanship very poor. The floors are noticeably uneven in places and many passageways are narrow. Goofy little nooks, crannies and windows and bizarre features are everywhere.
It has a lot of unique and visually interesting features but I've never seen such a poorly-designed house in my life. It's obvious that he has no formal training as an architect.

[@JM_Architecture]

What was the name of this home? I’m curious to see the place for myself.

[@joevarga5982]

@@JM_Architecture I haven't been able to find it's name, but it's for sale now so you can find the listing on line. 1180 Cougar Lane, Prescott, AZ. I'm curious to know your thoughts after you see it.

[@joevarga5982]

@@JM_Architecture There's another Bruder home for sale now. 16811 E Hawk Dr #2, Fountain Hills, AZ. They've been trying to sell this condo for nearly 2 years.

[@joevarga5982]

@@JM_Architecture Another Bruder for sale at 5749 N Canyon Dr, Phoenix.

[@JM_Architecture]

@@joevarga5982 Thank you for this info! I plan on visiting Arizona again sometime this winter - I'll be sure to stop by and give my review!