Bruce Goff: Material Worlds
Edited by Alison Fisher and Craig Lee
Contributions by Lawrence Chua, David G. De Long, Penelope Dean, Alison Fisher, Scott Herring, Janna Ireland, Hadley Jerman Bruss, Kelly Keegan, Craig Lee, Paula Lupkin, and Nolan Vallier
Designed by: Content Object, Kimberly Varella with Gabrielle Pulgar
Hardcover, 296 pages
Publisher: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2025
ISBN: 978-0-300-28407-2
Dimensions: 9 × 11.5 in.
Printing: Graphicom, Verona, Italy
As an extension of the major retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago, Material Worlds reveals the vibrant imagination and working life of American architect Bruce Goff. After a formative mentorship with Frank Lloyd Wright, Goff broke from the minimal aesthetics of modernism and embraced a more expansive, lively approach to making.
A casebound hardcover with bronze foil detailing and hot pink printed edges draws on visual motifs from Goff’s work, including geometric designs and self-made typography that inspired the book’s type. Bookended by fluorescent pink, metallic-embossed endpapers, each featuring images of Goff in his studio from the beginning toward the end of his practice, illuminate the breadth and joy of his output.
The book echoes Goff’s boundless creativity through paper changes and interwoven sections. A two-column text grid is framed by running headers, folios, and vertical captions, evoking a “conversation pit” inviting an intimate dialogue between text and image. Goff’s eclectic inspirations—from stones and shells to rulers and records—are highlighted in an encyclopedic section titled Object Atlas, letting readers trace his artistic influences through everyday yet extraordinary objects.
Goff’s work extends beyond architecture to include abstract paintings, photographs, and a vast collection of ephemera, alongside architectural drawings, building fragments, and models. One of his most celebrated works, the Struckus House, is documented in a photo essay by Janna Ireland, printed on glossy, magazine-like paper with full-bleed images that immerse the reader in Goff’s material world.
