Simeon Bruner, RA

Founding Principal

A founding principal of the firm, Simeon brought creative design and expertise in adaptive reuse of historic buildings. Much of Simeon’s work featured museums and art centers that are themselves works of art, including the multiple award winning Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), the Piano Craft Guild housing for artists, and the Lunder Arts Center at Lesley University. He also directed the Boston Children’s Museum Master Plan and the reuse study for the Wadsworth Atheneum Art Museum in Hartford.

Simeon’s adaptive reuse projects included the massive historic Landmark Center in Boston and the Promenade at the Foundry residential complex, one of the largest historic preservation projects in Rhode Island. Other residential projects included 45 Province Street and the Viridian, both luxury high-rise residences in Boston.

Inspired by the power of creative placemaking to transform city spaces, in 1986 Simeon founded the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, a nonprofit award which celebrates outstanding urban architecture and innovative design solutions. He also founded the Bruner/Loeb Forum with the Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Together, these programs recognize design excellence and encourage national dialogue on some of the most important issues facing American cities today.