BERTRAND GOLDBERG
AT THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

Bertrand Goldberg was born in 1913 in Chicago, Illinois, and received his training in architecture and engineering from 1930 through 1936 at several institutions, including Harvard College and Harvard University, in Massachusetts; the Bauhaus, then in Berlin, Germany; Armour Institute of Technology (now Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago; and also through a tutorial with engineer Frank Nydam. He worked in the offices of George Fred Keck (1935) and Paul Schweikher (1935-36) before organizing his own firm in 1937. Early projects included prefabricated housing under the 1940 Lanham Act (Standard Houses, 1941-43), and field designs for the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (Mobile Penicillin Lab, 1943) and the Board of Economic Warfare (Gun Crate, 1943 and Mobile Delousing Unit, 1943). Goldberg remained interested in the standardization and systematic development of architectural forms. Early work with stressed-skin plywood panels led to designs for prefabricated bathrooms (Standard Fabrication Corporation, 1946-47) and freight cars (Pressed Steel Car Company, 1949-50). It was Goldberg's modernist desire to regularize the required components of a steel frame building that led to the simplicity and structural economy of the circular form. A pioneer of mixed-use, residential and commercial structures, Goldberg created his "city within a city" as a response to suburban flight; the iconic Marina City (1967) contains an office building, restaurants and recreational facilities, as well as parking and apartments. This distinctive design, as well as those of such noted Chicago buildings as the Raymond Hilliard Center (1966) and River City (1982-86) utilized social, formal and technological innovation. In his successful designs for health care (notably, Affiliated Hospitals Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, 1976; Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, 1982; Health Sciences Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1974; Prentice Women's Hospital and Psychiatric Institute for Northwestern University Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, 1974; Providence Hospital in Mobile, Alabama, 1988; Saint Joseph Hospital in Tacoma, WA, 1975; Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, 1986; and Saint Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1977). Goldberg created a different kind of specialized community and through these designs, further explored the impact of space on the vitality of individuals and society. The recipient of numerous awards, his work was the subject of many exhibitions in the United States and Europe. Goldberg was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1966, and was awarded the Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 1985. Goldberg died in Chicago in 1997.

Ryerson & Burnham Archives Bertrand Goldberg archive. 270 linear feet. Photographs, drawings, correspondence, manuscripts, publications and audiovisual materials documenting the career of the Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg. This archive comprehensively chronicles Goldberg's diverse career as architect, engineer, urban planner, lecturer and businessman through documentation of built, unbuilt, extant and demolished structures, numerous architectural firms and subsidiary corporations, as well as a variety of professional activities and associations. For further information about consulting the Ryerson & Burnham Archives' holdings of the Bertrand Goldberg archive, please refer to its access information. R&B Archives, Bertrand Goldberg Archive, Finding Aid Department of Architecture and Design Bertrand Goldberg Collection. Approximately 30,000 documents. The scope of the archive spans Goldberg's career nearly in its entirety, dating from 1942 to 1997. The material content consists of working, mechanical, detail and design drawings and sketches, as well as presentation drawings and panels, models, posters, collages, and photographs. Additionally, the archive includes early examples of computer-assisted drawing (CAD) experimentation, as well as fully realized prints as this technique evolved and became a standard practice. For further information about consulting the Department of Architecture and Design's holdings of the Bertrand Goldberg archive, please contact the department at (312) 443-3949. Available records of these holdings are provided here as PDF documents. You will need Adobe's Acrobat Reader to view or print the PDF documents. The information provided here is also available in a printed booklet or on cd. Finding Aid: The Bertrand Goldberg Collection Finding Aid describes the materials housed in the Department of Architecture and Design; basic information, which includes project name, geographical location, date and number of drawings is given for each of the 157 projects. Collection Introduction Projects: E-G Projects: S Complete Project List Projects: H-L Projects: T-Y Projects: 1420-B Projects: M-O Projects: P-R Projects: C-D Detailed Catalog Records (Alphabetical by Project): This database provides detailed information for each set of project drawings, including drawing type, title, media, condition and notes. The records were originally entered into a FileMaker Pro database; they are currently only available as PDF documents. Catalog Records: A-Z RELATED COLLECTIONS: Chicago Architects Oral History Project Goldberg speaks about study at the Cambridge School of Landscape Architecture; study with Mies van der Rohe and colleagues at the Bauhaus in Berlin; experiences in pre-war Germany; working for George Fred Keck; working for Paul Schweikher; Mies in Chicago; Mies's visit to Taliesin to see Frank Lloyd Wright; designs for use during WW II; prefabrication; mast-hung structures; designing and building Marina City, the Raymond Hilliard Homes, and River City. Also of interest is the oral history of Ben Honda who worked for Bertrand Goldberg & Associates from 1961 until the Goldberg office closed in 1997. Honda worked on almost every major project that came to the office, including the Marina City office, apartment, and theatre buildings, Raymond Hilliard Homes, River City, Prentice Women's Hospital at Northwestern Medical Center, and numerous other hospital commissions nation-wide. Interview highlights include discussion of problems with Astor Tower; planning and designing health care facilities; key people in the Goldberg office; planning River City and the lessons of Marina City. Bertrand Goldberg, from Goldberg and Associates 42 projects are documented in over 200 images. Includes sections on Goldberg's designs, practice and business activities. Works are indexed alphabetically, geographically, by type and by time. Includes links to speeches, writings, quotations, articles about Goldberg and other resources. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: Department of Architecture and Design Geographical Index Selected Bibliography Ryerson and Burnham Archives Bibliography of publications Bibliography of speeches Project list, alphabetical Project list, chronological Master file plan File plan, River City File plan, Wright College Other Bert Weinberg Interview (draft) Interview with Bert Weinberg, one of the structural engineers who worked on Marina City. Interviewed December 2002 by Geoff Goldberg. Draft version.

Send questions or comments regarding this information to
Ryerson & Burnham Archives: rbarchives@artic.edu
Ryerson & Burnham Libraries, (312) 443-7292

© 2002.The Art Institute of Chicago. 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60603-6110. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use is prohibited.