Wil Natzel is a gay artist, designer, and graduate of the Cranbrook Academy of Art with a Master of Architecture, the cradle of American design. His work straddles the line between art and architecture, drawing inspiration from architectural sources, cultural frameworks, and natural phenomena. Wil’s creations challenge perception and invite audiences to engage with spaces in new ways. Through his public art, environments, and abstract objects, he explores the relativity of individual experiences, reshaping how people see the world around them. His work integrates color, sound, light, and new technologies to foster reflection, participation, and dialogue.

Wil’s portfolio spans private commissions and public projects for the Institute for Public Architecture, Twin Cities Pride, SooVAC, and Gamut Gallery, with projects in New York, Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and Dallas. His most recent work, Superfluity, is a pop-up queer-themed installation developed during his fellowship at the Institute for Public Architecture on Governors Island, NYC. A version of the installation was recently showcased at Twin Cities Pride. Wil’s work draws on elements inspired by the queer landscape, integrating experimental structures that evoke both personal and collective identity. His work has been featured in Wired, PBS MN Original, and other leading design platforms, and he has served as a visiting architecture critic at institutions like the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Minnesota.

Deeply shaped by his identity as a gay artist, Wil’s practice is rooted in creating experiences that celebrate diversity, connect communities, and amplify marginalized voices. Rather than simply fulfilling a brief, Wil views architecture as a catalyst for richer collaboration and reflection with communities and clients. His work reimagines what spaces, objects, and places can be, encouraging new ways of thinking, experiencing, and connecting with the world.

His artist centered practice has an open and inclusive approach to collaborating with institutions and other artists including the Perot Museum of Science and Nature, UCLA Gamelab, and Minnesota Children’s Museum. He has collaborated with architect Ania Jaworska for MoMA Ps1 and the Chicago Architecture Biennial.