Bertrand Goldberg

Bertrand Goldberg specialized in unique forms built from common materials and created some of the most iconic buildings in Chicago. After finishing high school, he traveled to Germany in 1932 to study architecture at the Bauhaus. While there he worked under director Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Goldberg appreciated Mies’ design principles but took them in a new direction when he returned to his hometown of Chicago to open his own firm in 1937.

His work combined Mid-Century Modern principles with his own ideas of modular, prefabricated and often curved forms not seen in Miesian buildings. Goldberg understood the social dynamics of a changing city. His most well-known buildings in Chicago sought to revitalize the city’s urban core. The curved plans and concrete sculptural forms of Marina City, River City and Hilliard Homes illustrate his ideas about vertical communities.