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Helstein Residence, Chicago, Illinois

A work made of variable media.

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  • A work made of variable media.

Date:

1950–91

Artist:

Bertrand Goldberg
American, 1913-1997

About this artwork

One of the last single-family houses of Goldberg’s career was his spectacular design for the home of labor leader Ralph Helstein, built in the Chicago neighborhood of Hyde Park. This two-story house evokes the raw structural clarity of Le Corbusier’s 1914 Maison Dom-ino, with four cylindrical concrete columns at the corners of the building, supporting three identical concrete slabs for the floors and roof. The interior reveals a remarkably expansive space and compact, interlocking features, including a dramatic suspended staircase that extends the full height of the building, a large number of custom furniture pieces, and a double-height living room and balcony that evoke the industrial qualities of Charles and Ray Eames’s 1949 house in Los Angeles. In the context of Goldberg’s oeuvre, the Helstein House also serves as an interesting prototype or model for his much larger, similarly expressive Astor Tower, designed from 1958.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Architecture and Design

Artist

Bertrand Goldberg (Architect)

Title

Helstein Residence, Chicago, Illinois

Place

Chicago (Building address)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Designed 1950–1991

Medium

Variable media

Dimensions

Variable dimensions

Credit Line

The Archive of Bertrand Goldberg, gifted by his children through his estate

Reference Number

RX23664/57.1-84

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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