Peter W. Rutti, AIA, Associate Principal and Project Director of Westlake Reed Leskosky, has been appointed Director of Design of the Phoenix, Arizona studio of the nationally recognized architects, engineers, and technology designers. The announcement recognizes the design excellence, leadership, and continued growth of the national and international practice of the integrated design firm in the western region.
According to managing principal Paul E. Westlake, Jr., FAIA, “Peter Rutti is a formidable designer and a premier resource, with a specialty in cultural arts. He brings his western roots and background in California and Phoenix to take a leading role on the national, and now international, stage. As Director of Design of the Phoenix studio, along with his contributions in the academic framework, he advances design excellence and inspires future leaders as well.”
As Director of Design of Westlake Reed Leskosky’s Phoenix studio, Peter Rutti brings his design approach focusing on fostering collaboration, listening to client needs, assessing project programs, giving design form, and delivering inspiring solutions. Over the last decade he has been asked to help lead and coordinate design teams for some of the most complex and high profile performing arts centers in the United States, understanding not only how to build cultural arts facilities, but more importantly, what makes them resonate with audiences and communities.
Architect Rutti says, “Through my experience on performing art centers in particular, I truly believe the success of architecture can only be achieved through a constant personal involvement on the project - from beginning to end. Only in that way that user needs and theatrical requirements can be synthesized into distinctive architecture.”
Mr. Rutti’s current work includes the design of the renovation and expansion of the Avalon Theater of Grand Junction, Colorado, transforming the 1923 historic Vaudeville playhouse into a vibrant multi-venue regional center for the arts as a new anchor for downtown redevelopment and social engagement. He is also designing cultural arts projects of Westlake Reed Leskosky in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and Taiwan.
Mr. Rutti has traveled widely throughout Western and Eastern Europe studying theatres, churches and civic spaces, and first apprenticed as an architect in Prague during the 1990s. He brings to all of his projects a careful understanding of how to finesse complex programs into elegantly designed and carefully detailed buildings. As a result, his work has been widely published in national design journals and nationally cited in design programs including those of the American Institute of Architects.
Mr. Rutti extends his commitment to design excellence through his involvements in the development of the architectural community. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Arizona State University School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture where he currently teaches a graduate level Comprehensive Design Studio focusing on the design of Performing Art Centers. Peter is also a visiting critic at the UCLA School of Architecture & Urban Design and School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona.
A member of the American Institute of Architects and Contemporary Forum of Phoenix Art Museum, Mr. Rutti received his Master of Architecture from the University of California Los Angeles, 2001 and his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Arizona, 1995, and completed a Semester Audit/Study of Urban Architecture at Southern California Institute of Architecture, in 1993.
About Westlake Reed Leskosky
Widely published and recognized for design excellence, Westlake Reed Leskosky (www.WRLdesign.com) has been cited with over 300 design awards in the past ten years. Celebrating its 109th year of continuous operation in the United States, and founded by Abram Garfield, son of President James A. Garfield, the firm has offices in Phoenix, Cleveland, Washington DC, New York, and Los Angeles, CA.
Westlake Reed Leskosky bases success and growth on integrated and comprehensive building design services with building specialization in cultural, civic, healthcare, work place environments, and educational facilities. This expertise is delivered using Building Information Modeling with highly integrated specialized capabilities including LEED/sustainable design, interior design, structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, data transport/IT and technology design, security design, theatre technical services, audio-visual and lighting services, assistance in historic and new markets tax credits, and cultural arts planning.
Westlake Reed Leskosky is listed among the country’s top design firms, including ranking in AIA’s Architect magazine’s 2012 Top 50 as #6 Overall based on business, sustainability, and design excellence/pro bono and #1 in Sustainability, and among the 2012 “Top 100 Green Design Firms in the U.S.” by Engineering News-Record.
Westlake Reed Leskosky is in its third decade of practice in Arizona, commencing with its commission to restore the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, and establishing its permanent office in the city in 1997. In the past 16 years, the studio has developed a portfolio of significant projects in the southwest that represents each of the firm’s specialties. The office is presently working on an amphitheatre in Shanghai, an amphitheatre and multi-purpose theatre in Beijing, two multi-purpose theatres in Taiwan, and an event center in Gabon, Africa.
Related Stories
| Jan 23, 2014
Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill-designed Federation of Korean Industries tower opens in Seoul [slideshow]
The 50-story tower features a unique, angled building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) exterior designed to maximize the amount of energy collected.
| Jan 23, 2014
Think you can recognize a metal building from the outside?
What looks like brick, stucco or wood on the outside could actually be a metal building. Metal is no longer easily detectable. It’s gotten sneakier visually. And a great example of that is the Madison Square retail center in Norman, Okla.
| Jan 23, 2014
3 fatal flaws your architecture firm has right now
After visiting over 200 architecture firms, I was aghast that so many of them were committing these costly sins of mismanagement and miscommunication, without even realizing it. If I can stop even one more firm from shooting its own foot, then this is worth it.
| Jan 22, 2014
SOM-designed University Center uses 'sky quads,' stacked staircases to promote chance encounters
The New School's vertical campus in Manhattan houses multiple functions, including labs, design studios, a library, and student residences, in a 16-story building.
| Jan 22, 2014
Architecture Billings Index sees first back-to-back decline since mid-2012
The AIA's Architecture Billings Index dipped for the second consecutive month in December—the first consecutive months of contraction since May and June of 2012.
| Jan 21, 2014
Comcast to build second Philadelphia skyscraper, with Norman Foster-designed tower [slideshow]
The British architect last week unveiled his scheme for the $1.2 billion, 59-story Comcast Innovation and Technology Center, planned adjacent to the Comcast Center.
| Jan 21, 2014
2013: The year of the super-tall skyscraper
Last year was the second-busiest ever in terms of 200-meter-plus building completions, with 73 towers, according to a report by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jan 20, 2014
BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland Conference 'call for 2014 educational proposals' is now open
The conference and exposition will take place September 29-October 1, 2014, at North America’s largest LEED Gold-certified hotel, the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. Deadline for proposals is February 28, 2014.
| Jan 17, 2014
Crystal Bridges Museum will move Frank Lloyd Wright house from New Jersey to Arkansas
Numerous architectural experts have concluded that moving the Bachman Wilson House offers its best hope for long-term survival.
| Jan 17, 2014
Australian project transforms shipping containers into serene workplace
Australian firm Royal Wolf has put its money where its mouth is by creating an office facility out of shipping containers at its depot and fabrication center in Sunshine, Victoria.
