This project is an embodied and synthetic exploration of the life and work of American architect Bruce Goff (1904–1982). Expanding out from his distinctive architectural drawings, the exhibition and catalogue chart Goff’s tireless exploration of the world through his personal collections, lifelong commitment to painting and music, and his unique conception of mixed-media bricolage. The project challenges Goff’s nominal role in broader histories of modern architecture and design by presenting new narratives about his diverse inspirations and investments. These highlight Goff’s many connections to postwar culture, including his engagement with science fiction and media technology, as well as his interest in Native American and Asian art and culture, and relationship to queer modernisms. In this way, Bruce Goff: Material Worlds—the first major retrospective of the architect’s work in thirty years—makes the case for Goff’s role as a unique chronicler of twentieth-century America.

Alison Fisher is the Harold and Margot Schiff Curator of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her writing and curatorial projects focus on alternative histories of modern architecture, urbanism, and design. Past exhibitions include Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention (2011); The City Lost and Found: Capturing New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, 1960–1980 (2014); Georg Jensen: Scandinavian Design for Living (2018); Bauhaus Chicago: Design in the City (2019); and Dan Friedman: Stay Radical (2023). Fisher serves on the board of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (ICAM) and her current research includes a long-term project on the students and faculty of László Moholy-Nagy’s Institute of Design.

Craig Lee is an assistant curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago. He previously held fellowships at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Museum of the City of New York and completed internships at the Princeton University Art Museum, Fallingwater, National Gallery of Art, and The Museum of Modern Art. Past projects have included work on Charles Moore and Helmut Jahn, in addition to writing on Denise Scott Brown, Edgar Miller, and histories of outdoor advertising and commercial signage.

The Art Institute of Chicago shares its singular collections with our city and the world. We collect, care for, and interpret works of art across time, cultures, geographies, and identities, centering the vision of artists and makers. It recognizes that all art is made in a particular context, demanding continual, dynamic reconsideration in the present. The Art Institute is a place of gathering; it fosters the exchange of ideas and inspire an expansive, inclusive understanding of human creativity.