Robert R. Bruno Jr.
Robert R. Bruno Jr. (January 30, 1945 – December 9, 2008) was an American artist, inventor, and businessman. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Robert R. Bruno Sr. and Delores Puig, and he had two sisters, Kathleen and Diane. He spent his early years moving between the United States and Mexico. He studied at Dominican College in Racine, Wisconsin, and later did graduate work at the University of Notre Dame. At Dominican College he began working with steel and created many steel sculptures.
He met Patricia Mills at Dominican College, they married, and moved to Lubbock, Texas, where he taught art and design at Texas Tech University. They had a daughter named Christina. During the 1970s he taught at Texas Tech while his wife worked at the High Plains Underground Water District.
In 1982 he designed and built one of the first solar-powered surge irrigation systems for row crops, inspired by the surge irrigation research of Stringham and Keller in 1979. He and Patricia Mills founded P&R Surge Systems, named from their initials. The company supported his art financially.
Bruno became known for his art, including jewelry, furniture, and many sculptures. He is best known for the Steel House in Ransom Canyon, near Lubbock, Texas. Construction began in 1973 on a 2,200-square-foot, three-level steel house that weighs about 110 tons and sits on four hollow legs on the canyon rim. The house has large curved windows with views of Lake Ransom Canyon. He planned a library and an aquarium inside the legs, but the house remained unfinished at his death.
In 1991 Bruno helped design another home in Ransom Canyon, a stone-and-tile house inspired by Antoni Gaudí. The project involved builder Rick Denser, master stone mason Manfred Kaiter, and Mark Lawson.
Bruno died December 9, 2008, in Lubbock, Texas, at age 63. His legacy includes Bruno Sculpture Plaza at Texas Tech University.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:00 (CET).