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Bruce Goff (1904-1982) was an American architect. Born in Alton, Kansas , he apprenticed at the age of twelve to Rush, Endacott and Rush of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Goff became a partner with the firm in 1930. He is debatably credited, along with Adah Robinson, his high school art teacher, with the design of Boston Avenue Methodist Church, one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. Self-educated and exceptionally creative, his designs often depended on creative free-association and borrowed materials.
Without academic credentials Goff became a professor of architecture at the University of Oklahoma. In his capacity as teacher, Goff emphasized a design curriculum based on creativity. Within his private practice, Goff introduced a form of organic architecture that was sensitive to both client needs and site constraints.
With very strong convictions about the importance of individuality, Goff created isolated one-family houses in tree enshrouded pockets of the Great Plains. Although Goff's buildings relied on a combination of structural clarity and spatial complexity, they also used a form of decorative detailing that contrasted with the typical simplicity of 20th Century buildings.
Other significant buildings designed by Goff are the Bavinger House and the Price House in Oklahoma, and the Japanese Art wing at the Los Angeles County Art Museum.
Goff died in Tyler, Texas in 1982.
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