The University Libraries frequently collaborate with UB partners and outside organizations on projects or initiatives by sharing resources and professional expertise. One standout example is the decades-long partnership between the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Architecture and Planning, the Bruner Foundation, and UB Libraries to create and maintain an online repository for the Rudy Bruner Award Digital Archive. This initiative documents the history of urban placemaking across the continental United States.
In 2023, a $5 million gift from the Bruner Foundation — founded by Simeon Bruner and named after his father, Rudy — to UB’s School of Architecture and Planning supported the transition of the award program into a research institution: the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence (RBC). As a research and educational hub, RBC focuses on innovative thinking and discussions about the role of design in city-making. It serves as a vital resource for students, practitioners, and community members across disciplines, offering opportunities to study transformative urban projects and their long-term community impacts.
As part of this transition, the Rudy Bruner Award Digital Archive has evolved into the Rudy Bruner Award Collection, managed by the University Libraries. The collection’s primary mission is to support the research, educational, and outreach activities of the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence. It includes papers, books, program materials, and digital archives on urban excellence, serving as a resource for fostering research, discussion, advocacy, and solutions to urban challenges.
“Seeing how students used the collection helped me prioritize records with the highest informational value.” – Carl Siegel, Collections Manager
Carl Siegel, UB Libraries’ collections manager for the Rudy Bruner Award materials, is the first dedicated curator of the collection’s more than 25-year history at the Libraries. He collaborates closely with faculty from the School of Architecture and Planning’s RBC. These collaborations support faculty research, publications, and the development of educational resources that draw on precedent studies from the award’s 30-plus-year history of celebrating excellence in urban design and development.
As project archivist and collections manager, Siegel oversees the processing of records created by the Bruner Foundation during the award program’s operation. This includes extensive supporting materials used to produce Rudy Bruner Award publications for each award cycle. Siegel, in partnership with UB’s technology team, is leading the creation of a new digital platform for the collection using Omeka S. This platform aims to provide a curated portal to explore contextual links between award-winning projects, moving beyond a traditional file directory.
In addition to his work on the collection, Siegel brings fresh perspective to UB, joining the team in August 2023 after earning his MSIS at the University of Texas. His efforts align with RBC’s mission to advance innovative thinking in urbanism. “I enjoy finding ways to leverage the collection in teaching collaborations with my colleagues at the Rudy Bruner Center,” Siegel said.
One example is the fall 2024 ARC 629 Precedents course, which used the Bruner Award collection to examine and compare urban planning challenges in Buffalo with past award-winning projects. “This engagement not only enriched students’ understanding of transformative urban design but also informed collection development priorities,” Siegel added. “Seeing how students used the collection helped me prioritize records with the highest informational value.”
The Rudy Bruner Award Collection offers architecture students, practitioners, and community members invaluable access to documented urban design case studies spanning 1987 to 2019. The collection includes award applications, correspondence, photographs, publications, site visit reports, and administrative files. UB’s involvement with the Bruner Award began in the 1990s, with the university maintaining application materials for each award cycle. As part of the 2022 endowment establishing RBC, the Bruner Foundation allocated resources to enhance access and curation, laying the groundwork for a three-year development plan.
The Rudy Bruner Center has also expanded its team with the hiring of Lauren Fischer as director of research. RBC remains a critical resource for exploring innovative urban design solutions.
Visit our website to learn more about the Rudy Bruner Award Collection. Additional details about the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence are also available online.