Bio:
The great designer , Scott Ruff is the principal of RuffWorks Studio and is a Visiting Associate Professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute and New York Institute of Technology. Born in Buffalo, New York, Ruff, received a Bachelor’s of Architecture and a Master’s of Architecture II from Cornell University. In 2017 he was a Louis I. Kahn Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture. He has also taught at Tulane University, Syracuse University, Hampton University, University of Buffalo and Cornell University.

How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
3 moments led me to architecture: I walked past an architect’s office everyday when I was in elementary school, the images stuck with me; wood and print shop in junior high school, mixed with a passion for drawing.

What do you do?
Visiting Associate Professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute School of Architecture

What excites you in the work you do?
My passion is teaching, helping others to see with new eyes and bringing out the beauty of an idea or place. Each design no matter how small is a reframing/ rethinking of time and space. I am forever fascinated.

Who or what inspires you professionally?
Philosophy and actual human experiences inspire me. The way architecture can inspire people to aspire to the different - to something beyond or within themselves.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Teaching through culture and architecture in projects like: Guardian’s Institute, the Mardi Gras Indian studio at Tulane and the Gullah Geechee studio at Yale.

Featured Project Name: 
Guardian’s Institute
 
Featured Project Location: 
New Orleans, LA
 
Featured Project Completion Date: 
2012

Role in Featured Project: 
Designer/ Builder
 
Featured Project Description:
Guardian’s Institute is dedicated to preserving a more than century-old tradition that has been carried on exclusively in the New Orleans African American community. The Donald Harrison Sr. Museum is a multi-use structure developed to facilitate the organizations mission of educating the community through literacy and cultural traditions. The structure is used to display and store specialized cultural artifacts (full body Masks) as well as an outdoor performance space.

Photography Credit:
Andrea Mabry: Guardians_Institute_Interior, Guardians_Institute_Rear View