Bertrand Goldberg

Chicago Architect, 1913-1997

"My message, I think, is much more important either than myself personally, or than the quick identification as the round-building architect. I am talking about the performance of people in a social system, about the performance of people in the city."
This site is provided for those interested in the work of Bertrand Goldberg. Additional information can be found in the Goldberg Archive at the Art Instiitute of Chicago.

Architect Bertrand Goldberg was born in 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. He went to Harvard and then the Bauhaus in Berlin from 1932-33. He organized his own firm in 1937 after working in the offices of George Fred Keck (1935) and Paul Schweiker (1935-36). During his career, his unique design philosophy and innovative use of technology were acknowledged through numerous awards and exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Goldberg died in Chicago in 1997.

Goldberg’s early work focused on small, intimate projects: residential design, industrial design, and small-scale commercial architecture. In 1959 he began work on Marina City, a unique mixed-use residential and commercial complex on the bank of the Chicago river. Recognized as an iconic architectural landmark, it was the first of many large-scale commissions that defined Goldberg’s later career, including Raymond Hillard Homes and River City, as well as many educational and health care facilities.