William P. Bruder

		Burton Barr Central Library, architect of record bruderDWL, Photographs by Bill Timmerman, ©bruderDWL

1946 -
Drawings and Papers: 1960s-1990s
50 map case drawers and 150 boxes, 175 linear feet

Internationally acclaimed architect William P. Bruder was born in Milwaukee and earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin. After studying under prominent architects such as Gunnar Birkerts and Paolo Soleri, Bruder opened his own studio forty miles north of Phoenix in New River, Arizona, in 1974. Since then he has designed more than 300 projects, mostly residential, with a philosophy that describes architecture as "functional fine art based on site and user needs." His use of natural materials combined with concrete block and sheet metal and his careful siting of structures with relation to the sun exhibit organic architecture in the desert environment. Bruder's most recent major project is the Phoenix Central Library, a 280,000 square-foot facility which opened in May 1995.

The collection consists of oversize materials, textual records, and photographs. Important among the oversize holdings are presentation drawings for nearly two hundred Bruder projects from 1971-1994. These drawings include perspectives, floor plans, site plans, sections, and elevations. Extensive printed materials with references to Bruder and his work are contained withing the textual records. Also among the printed materials are architects' files compiled by the Bruder firm that contain biographical and historical information on prominent architects throughout the world. Photographs for nearly two hundred completed Bruder projects are also included among the holdings.