Bruce Goff: Ford House

This video about the Ford House in Aurora, Illinois, designed by Bruce Goff, was created for the installation "Past Forward: Architecture and Design at the Art Institute."
Now on view: www.artic.edu/e...

[@LisaGloria]

I live just down the street. We are very proud of this house and our neighborhood of modern designs! The Ford house is the crown jewel. Its beauty seems to shift with the seasons.

[@marvinmcconoughey3547]

You said, "Its beauty seems to shift with the seasons." That is a lovely sentence and so is the house. I live in a round house, not this spectacular, and have for 33 years. My wife and I built in in the early 1980s. There is something very lovely about living in a well designed round house.

[@peggylazrecknagel7874]

I used to live about a block away from this house in Aurora as well. One memory I have from my childhood is that whoever lived there at the time had carousel horses inside the east side of the home.

[@cnkaufmann]

I read of Bruce Goff while reaserching Chicago architecture eight years ago and I read the 1949 Life magazine article. While researching historic buildings for a book I’m now writing on the history of Chicago, I went to Aurora and took pictures of the outside of the Ford house. Sid saw me and kindly invited me on a tour of his house. He is an architecture professor. Seeing this house in person is a surreal experience. I’ts like walking through a work of art. Truly amazing. Thank you Sid!

[@hydraxisfrimon9785]

Goff's work makes me cry, ever since I saw a BBC Arena documentary about his work, probably back in the '80's, I have been so in love with what he did. I didn't know anything about Frank Lloyd Wright and Goff was the first time I had seen anything that played with space and materials in such an exciting way, it was a total revelation to a kid brought up on a 60's social housing estate in the home counties of the UK. I had only ever seen boxes and then Goff captured all sorts of shapes in his buildings and placed wonderful accents and made coherent, flowing interiors that thrilled the imagination of the still-intact inner kid who read sci-fi and fantasy novels. I understand some of his work has deteriorated to such a state that some of the buildings are no longer intact, seems like such a crime but wonderful to see a record of a home like this online, thanks for sharing

[@The_Mimewar]

The middle of this home, the 2 layer exposed...feels so...futuristic and perfect, like a dream home of the future when I was a kid. I think I understand what you’re saying

[@terrywilliams1742]

I used to live in this neighborhood and was always fascinated by this home. Nice to learn more about it through this video.

[@badapple65]

Nothing stronger than an arch, a circle. We are just so conditioned to right angles. I watched a few interviews with Mr. Goff and I was impressed that he admitted to not only admiring Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs but that they had a relationship for years mostly through letter writing.

[@stevemartin1320]

We used to drive by this house all the time. My dad would always say, "You can run around the inside of that house all day, and never find a corner to sit in." He loves his jokes.

[@ItsMeHi116]

Dad jokes!

[@terrywilliams7610]

I lived in this neighborhood for many years and was fascinated by this house. Love seeing this video and learning more about it!

[@johnoswald4726]

a couple of corrections: Goff passed away in August of 1982 at age 78. The blue-green glass laid up in the walls is a byproduct of the glass making process and is called glass-cullet, not marble. The 'coal' used in the masonry walls is anthracite, the hardest form of coal.

[@The_Mimewar]

I live right down the street from this house. Always wanted to know more

[@otisberlin]

Thanks for this gem

[@djmackay2011]

Lovely video.

[@slinkyjett]

birds do a better job

[@SalamanderMagic]

LMAO

[@Dfcameron13]

The original owner, Ruth Van Sickle Ford was a famed artist - she's a relative of my wife's - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_VanSickle_Ford