Eccentric Architect Bruce Goff's Bedazzling Designs Celebrated in New Exhibit

The Art Institute of Chicago showcases the mind-bending, biomorphic buildings of the midcentury modernist maverick.

Published on Feb. 4, 2026

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A new exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago celebrates the remarkable life and work of architect Bruce Goff, an eccentric genius who created a mind-bending array of flamboyant, occasionally campy buildings inspired by everything from Viennese paintings to "The Twilight Zone." The show features over 200 drawings, paintings, and objects from Goff's archives, offering a deep dive into the career of this outsider architect who was championed by some and dismissed by others.

Why it matters

Goff's unconventional, joyful designs challenged the mainstream modernist orthodoxy of his era, presaging the rise of postmodernism and the embrace of architectural whimsy. The exhibition serves as a timely reminder that modernism encompasses a vast, diverse universe beyond the stark, minimalist aesthetic often associated with it, and that visionary architects like Goff deserve recognition for their contributions to 20th century American architecture.

The details

Born in Kansas in 1904, Goff was a prodigy and polymath who designed a wide range of flamboyant, biomorphic buildings using unexpected materials like oil pipes, cellophane, and peacock feathers. After serving in the Navy, he ran the architecture school at the University of of Oklahoma, turning his office into a cluttered cocoon with orbs and tumbleweeds hanging from the ceiling. Goff later moved his practice into Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where he designed a lavish "white-shag pleasure palace" for his most devoted patron, Joe D. Price.

  • Goff was born in Kansas in 1904.
  • Goff enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor in 1941.
  • Goff ran the architecture school at the University of Oklahoma in the postwar years.
  • Goff moved his practice into the Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma in the 1950s.
  • Goff's magnum opus, the Shin'en Kan house for Joe Price, fell victim to suspected arson in the mid-1990s.

The players

Bruce Goff

An eccentric, prodigious architect who created a mind-bending array of flamboyant, biomorphic buildings in midcentury America, drawing inspiration from sources as diverse as Viennese paintings, "The Twilight Zone," and roadside diners.

Joe D. Price

Goff's most devoted patron, who commissioned him to design the lavish "white-shag pleasure palace" known as the Shin'en Kan house.

Herb Greene

Goff's gifted associate, whose drawings of Goff's Bavinger House are featured in the exhibition.

Bart Prince

Goff's colleague who completed the Japanese art pavilion project in Los Angeles after Goff's death in 1982.

Peter Zumthor

The Swiss architect whose new home for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art features a Goff-designed pavilion next door.

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What they’re saying

“Goff's output is 'the most provocative manifestation' of American architectural genius.”

— Ada Louise Huxtable, New York Times critic (New York Times)

“We don't like your house either.”

— Ruth Van Sickle Ford, Artist (Attributed to Ford)

What’s next

The new home for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, designed by Peter Zumthor, will open this spring and feature a Goff-designed pavilion next door.

The takeaway

Bruce Goff's wildly imaginative, biomorphic buildings challenged the mainstream modernist orthodoxy of his era, presaging the rise of postmodernism and the embrace of architectural whimsy. This exhibition celebrates the visionary work of an eccentric genius whose joyful, optimistic designs offer a refreshing antidote to the austerity that is sometimes associated with modernism.