Myron Henry Goldfinger (February 17, 1933 – July 20, 2023) was an American architect widely known for his monumental, theatrical and strongly geometric designs for prominent residential clients, mostly in New York and New Jersey, combining modern and Mediterranean vernaculars.

Background

Goldfinger was born and raised in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city (New Jersey), city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of ...

, the son of to William and Bertha (nee Sass) Goldfinger, a mail carrier and housewife. After graduating from

Atlantic City High School Atlantic City High School (ACHS) is a comprehensive high school, comprehensive State school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Atlantic City, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic Count ...

in 1950, he studied at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in 1955 under

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

. He subsequently served in Army for two years designing cabinetry at the Pentagon and later worked for

Skidmore Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

and

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the postmodern 550 ...

— before opening his own office in 1966. In the same year, he began teaching at

Pratt Institute Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York. It has an additional campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The institute was founded in 18 ...

, where he taught for 10 years. In 1966, Goldfinger married June Matkovic, together having two daughters. He died of liver cancer on July 20, 2023, in

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

, N.Y., at 90.

Career

Rising to prominence with a 1970 building he designed for himself in Waccabuc. He went on to design various houses in the 1980s, from the suburbs of northern New Jersey to southwest Connecticut. He was widely known for his homes in the wealthier areas of New York, notably in

the Hamptons The Hamptons, part of the East End (Long Island), East End of Long Island, consist of the town (New York), towns of Southampton (town), New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town), New York, East Hampton, which together compose the South Fork ...

prominently his 1981 home for Fred Jaroslow, the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

of Weight Watchers, and the Conason House in

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

(1984) — the latter featured prominently in the

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

film, '' The Wolf of Wall Street''. Later, he designed buildings outside New York, including the luxury resort Altamer Luxury Villas in

Anguilla Anguilla is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Sa ...

. Goldfinger was also known for his publications. ''Villages in the Sun'', from 1969, discussed the architectural style of the Mediterranean, as well as the designer of the "elegant, high-style" beachside hotel Cove Castles (1985).

Publications

*Goldfinger, Myron. ''Villages in the Sun: Mediterranean Community Architecture.'' New York: Praeger, 1969. OCLC 53690. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 393 libraries.WorldCat item record
/ref> **Spanish translation ''Arquitectura popular mediterránea'' Barcelona: G. Gili, 1993. *Goldfinger, Myron. ''Myron Goldfinger, Architect.'' New York City, NY: Artium Books, 1992 *Goldfinger, Myron ''The Goldfinger Caribbean'': New York : Artium Books, 2005

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldfinger, Myron 1933 births 2023 deaths Architects from New Jersey Atlantic City High School alumni 20th-century American architects People from Atlantic City, New Jersey University of Pennsylvania alumni