College of Architecture Newletter
About Bruce Goff
Bruce Goff was largely self-educated and worked in a way different from anything seen before or since. Frank Lloyd Wright even advised him not to formally study architecture at the risk of losing what made him so unique. He is famous for the re-used materials in his projects and organic forms. One of his most well-known projects is the Boston Avenue Methodist Church in Tulsa, one of the best examples of Art Deco. However, he moved past this style and onto more simple international modernism in the 1930s. While these houses were very simple, the drawings he produced for them were extremely beautiful, approaching something closer to art than just architectural drawings. His travels while in the military introduced him to building with limited materials. After WWII, his work moved into complete expressionism. While he respected the modernism of Mies van der Rohe, he disdained his imitators for not respecting the client or site. In 1942, Goff joined the University of Oklahoma, becoming the chair of the architecture department one year later. He held this position until 1955. Goff left behind a legacy of creativity in both practice and teaching, as well as some of the most unique houses not only in Oklahoma, but in the entire world.
Goff’s Norman Houses
The Bavinger House
The Bavinger House, located on the edge of Norman, is one Bruce Goff’s most famous works. The form of this house spirals up toward the sky like a nautilus built of stone and growing out of the land. The Bavinger House is the epitome of the successful combination of site, materials, and structure. Inside, the circular rooms feel suspended in air around the staircase, hovering above the goldfish pond below. The Bavinger House has now been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Ledbetter House
The Ledbetter House literally grows out of the earth, as sandstone walls curve around, disappear under the drive, reappear as the entry garden, and then become the house itself. This house masterfully blends geometric shape with natural form. The exterior includes a circular parking overhang that is suspended over the driveway with cables and another that provides shade in the garden. The saw tooth windows on the front of the house are set at an angle so that the fraternity house across the street, with its gaudy neo-classic design, would not reflect in the windows. Goff also used dime store ashtrays to capture light through the walls. The interior has a waterfall in the living area along with a ramp that leads to the upper level. The high windows allow light to cascade down the sandstone walls both in the living room and bathroom. The Ledbetter House was also recently added to the National Register of Historic Places.
About Herb Greene
Herb Greene was a pupil of Bruce Goff and one of his most famous works, Prairie House, is in Norman. This house is designed to look like it grows out of nature, almost denying the hand of the architect. The exterior wood wraps into the structure, blending the interior with the outside world of nature.