Bruce Burdick (1933–2021) was an American designer and founder of the Burdick Group. He is known for The Burdick Group modular desk system, and designing various museum exhibits around the world, including the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

exhibit space.

Biography

Bruce Burdick grew up in Pasadena, California and studied at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and the

Art Center College of Design Art Center College of Design (stylized as ArtCenter College of Design) is a private art college in Pasadena, California. History ArtCenter College of Design was founded in 1930 in downtown Los Angeles as the Art Center School. In 1935, Fred R. ...

in Pasadena. During his time at U.S.C. he interned at the Eames Office in Los Angeles. The work of

Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...

was an inspiration to him throughout his career. After graduating from Art Center in 1961 he worked in the Los Angeles design firms of John Follis and Herb Rosenthal. He founded the department of Environmental Design at the Art Center College of Design in 1971 and directed it through 1975. While there he served as the client liaison for the design and construction of

Craig Ellwood Craig Ellwood (April 22, 1922 – May 30, 1992) was an influential Los Angeles-based modernist architect whose career spanned the early 1950s through the mid-1970s. Although untrained as an architect, Ellwood fashioned a persona and career ...

's canyon-spanning Bridge Building. His elder daughter Anne Burdick teaches Media Design at the Art Center. In 1970 he founded the Burdick Group design firm in Los Angeles. Throughout his career Burdick spoke up for industrial design: "Designers are involved with life: we touch everything! Ninety per cent of everyone's day is spent using the things we've made, yet the public is only aware of fashion designers and architects." Designer Bruce Burdick

In 1975 the Burdick Group moved to San Francisco. The Burdick Group's first major exhibition opened in 1976: "Food for Life," a permanent exhibition on nutrition for the

Chicago Museum of Science and Industry The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is a science museum located in Chicago, Illinois, in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood between Lake Michigan and The University of Chicago. It is housed in the former ''Palace of Fine Arts'' fro ...

. Via computers, visitors related exhibit content to their own health. From this first exhibit onward Burdick strove to engage visitors with computer interactions. At that time "computer" meant mainframe. Burdick took a course in computer literacy at Berkeley's

Lawrence Hall of Science The Lawrence Hall of Science is a public science center in Berkeley, California that offers hands-on science exhibits, designs curriculum, aids professional development, and offers after school science resources to students of all ages. The Hall ...

to understand how computers might turn a visitor's passive experience into an active one. In 1980, Burdick purchased a former piano warehouse at 35

South Park, San Francisco South Park is a small urban park and eponymous neighborhood in the larger South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco, California, consisting of 0.85 acres (0.34 ha) of public ground. The neighborhood centers on the small, oval-shaped park and ...

. The building accommodated a changing cast of employees and a shop where models and prototypes were built. Sea Ranch ext

In that same year, Burdick designed the Burdick Group desk for

Herman Miller Herman Miller, officially MillerKnoll, Inc., is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings, including the Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is also ...

. Supported by aluminum beams and pedestals, the components can be rearranged to put tools and resources within easy reach. As Burdick put it, "What I wanted was a desk that was responsive to the way an individual works . . . a desk that a designer could specify for 20 different people, with each one being different." ''Time'' magazine reporter Wolf van Eckardt pronounced it one of the five best industrial designs of 1981. It was Gordon Gecko's desk in the 1987 film

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

. In 1983 Burdick married Susan K. Burdick, who became his design and business partner. In 2000 the Burdicks dissolved their firm and dedicated themselves to serious travel. They split their time between a home in San Francisco and a house they designed with longtime associate Bruce Lightbody at Sea Ranch on the California coast. A retrospective article in ''Graphis'' includes 20 pages of Burdick project photos.

Selected works

Furniture design

* Spring Table: multi-functional table for Herman Miller. In 1987 it was featured in International Design Magazine's Annual Design Review and selected for the

International Design Excellence Awards The International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) is an award program previously co-sponsored by ''BusinessWeek'' magazine, and in 2010 ''Fast Company'' magazine and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). According to the IDSA, IDEA "i ...

program. * The Burdick Group: modular desk system for Herman Miller (now

MillerKnoll Herman Miller, officially MillerKnoll, Inc., is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings, including the Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is also ...

) *

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

Modular Exhibit System: Display elements that can be broken down, shipped and reconfigured * Café Chair: aluminum stacking chair for Itoki (Japan) * Burdick Wave: upholstered airport-type row seating. Itoki (Japan) * Aero Table: glass-topped table for Casas (Spain) that packs flat.

Exhibit design

*Food for Life (1976),

Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago) The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) is a science museum located in Chicago, Illinois, in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood between Lake Michigan and The University of Chicago. It is housed in the former ''Palace of Fine Arts'' fro ...

. Visitors signed in to computer terminals at the entrance, giving their age, weight, height and gender. As they proceeded through colorful 3D displays on the different food groups they consulted terminals for personalized nutrition advice. The exhibit stayed up for at least 16 years. Creativity Exhibit designed by The Burdick Group

Creativity Exhibit designed by The Burdick Group

*Creativity: the Human Resource (1979) toured more than a dozen science museums from coast to coast. The exhibit asked "What is the creative process? Where do insights come from?" 16 artists, designers and scientists, from

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

and

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

and

Charles Townes Charles Hard Townes (July 28, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was an American physicist. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated wi ...

, shared their working materials and process. Computer terminals tested people's creative potential. An animated film explored the elements of a creative climate. Ian Frazier made light of the exhibit's solemnity in a Talk of the Town item in the ''New Yorker''. The genesis of the exhibit is described in a 1989 article in ''Print'' magazine. *The Money Center (1981), for the

. From the

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

: "''The Money Center'' is an imaginative arcade of economics at work, showing the function of money and banking through the use of computers, puppets, barter games, and shopping sprees. One highlight is Philosophers' Park, where the theories of economists - Keynes and Smith, for example - are traced." *

San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The SF Zoo is a public institution, managed by the non-profit San Francisco Zoologi ...

Primate Discovery Center (1985) Interactive exhibits about the primates in the zoo. *

Kentucky Derby Museum The Kentucky Derby Museum is an American Thoroughbred horse racing museum located on the grounds of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Dedicated to preserving the history of the Kentucky Derby, it first opened its doors to the public in the s ...

, Louisville KY (1985, 2000) Through the film and exhibits, visitors follow a young foal from its birth all the way to the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

. Exhibits highlight the stories of owners, trainers and jockeys. A 360˚ theater gives an immersive experience of Derby Day. When the museum was 15 years old the Burdick Group renovated and expanded it. *Electricity and Magnetism,

California Science Center The California Science Center (sometimes spelled California ScienCenter) is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles, next to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the University of Southern California. B ...

in Los Angeles (1989). From the ''L.A. Times'': "Children and adults can explore the intricate pathways of a microchip through a microscope, power an electromagnet, or experience the charge of static electricity in this latest addition to the museum. With an interactive learning approach and a visual emphasis, the exhibit is designed to complement school curricula." *

Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

House of Discovery,

Dhahran, Saudi Arabia Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cit ...

(1990). 26,000 feet of permanent displays in a new building. The introductory area exhibits Arab scientific and technical innovations: advances in timekeeping and navigation, astronomy, geography, mechanics and chemistry are presented in three dimensions. The rest of the museum is dedicated to petroleum technology: exploration, extraction, refining and distribution, with hands-on demonstrations throughout. *

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

Competence Center,

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,The

Evoluon The Evoluon was built in 1966 as a science museum by the electronics and electrical company Philips. It quickly became a landmark in Eindhoven, where Philips was headquartered at the time. The museum closed in 1989 and the building reopened as a ...

, a large concrete flying saucer, was repurposed from a threadbare science museum to a corporate "front door." From an article in ''Design Management Journal'' by Bruce and Susan Burdick: "In its recent corporate restructuring, Philips had combined some divisions, eliminated others, and, in the process, downsized. One of the ways it had done this was to identify its core competencies . . . A major part of the work of the front door would be to illustrate how these various competencies come together to produce new and significant product innovations." The exhibit's circular layout emphasized its random access character. Burdick told ''The Architectural Record'', "Exhibits aren't like books, which you read from front to back. People move through them at their own pace and along a number of different paths."

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Exhibit

* Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland (1995). According to Peter Arendt, the director of design and construction for the Hall of Fame, Bruce and Susan Burdick convinced architect

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

to relocate and expand the building's museum space. In an article on the ''New York Times'' editorial page headed "Go to Cleveland" Frank Rich wrote: "For each musicological exhibit that might document the creation of a hit record or the influence of, say, Woody Guthrie on Bob Dylan, there is another that connects rock's history to the larger history of a city (from New Orleans in the 50's to Seattle in the 90's) or a cultural upheaval (the rise of television, the raising of skirts) or a national cataclysm (Vietnam). Rock's social critics, from the John Birch Society to Tipper Gore, are taken as seriously as rap; so are the songs' political nuances." Burdick explained the design challenge to ''Washington Post'' reporter Richard Harrington: "this is the only museum in which the people already own the art, and know it as a part of their lives. . . . Our role is not to play back what they already have, but to play it back and put it into context." *Garden of

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

, Seoul, Korea (1998) In corporate headquarters, a panorama of the conglomerate's activities, organized as a trip through the changing seasons.

Retail design

Wells Fargo Bank Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and inter ...

prototype branch: early steps toward computerized banking. *

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvan ...

Cafe and Store, Kansas City, MO *

exhibit at EuroDisneyland, France *

Esprit de Corps Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

: store hardware and layout worldwide *

Hallmark A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''hallmark'' can al ...

Gold Crown Store, Kansas City MO *Echo showroom, New York *ComputerCraft retail store, Houston: In 1991, when personal computers were still daunting to many people, a prototype store for the chain was designed as a computer school, with interactive terminals for customers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burdick, Bruce 1933 births 2021 deaths American designers University of Southern California alumni Art Center College of Design alumni