Myron Goldsmith
Illustration — McMath–Pierce solar telescope building Myron Goldsmith (September 15, 1918 – July 15, 1996) was an American architect and designer. He was a student of Mies van der Rohe and Pier Luigi Nervi before designing 40 projects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill from 1955 to 1983. His last 16 years at the firm he was a general partner in its Chicago office.
Myron Goldsmith

Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5
- Died
- 1996 · Chicago.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- architect
- Education
- Illinois Institute of Technology
- Honours
- Fulbright Scholarship
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Illustration — McMath–Pierce solar telescope building Myron Goldsmith (September 15, 1918 – July 15, 1996) was an American architect and designer. He was a student of Mies van der Rohe and Pier Luigi Nervi before designing 40 projects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill from 1955 to 1983. His last 16 years at the firm he was a general partner in its Chicago office.
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Myron Goldsmith (1918–1996) was an American architect. Born in New York City, the architect died in Chicago. Myron Goldsmith studied at Illinois Institute of Technology.
Works by the architect are held at Art Institute of Chicago and Canadian Centre for Architecture. Myron Goldsmith received Fulbright Scholarship.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Background
Background
His best known project is the McMath–Pierce solar telescope building constructed in 1962 at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. It is visited by an estimated 100,000 people a year.
Goldsmith was born in Chicago and graduated in 1939 from the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied under Mies, whose Chicago office he joined in 1946. He worked there until 1953, when he received a Fulbright grant to study under Nervi at the University of Rome.
Career
Career
His first major projects at Skidmore were two United Airlines hangars at San Francisco International Airport, one of which used cantilevered steel girders to hold four DC-8 jetliners. He was a professor of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology beginning in 1961. In his 1987 monograph he wrote that: "A building should be built with economy, efficiency, discipline and order." At the time of his death, he was a member of a team organized by the institute to design a 120-story office, hotel and commercial structure in Seoul for the Hyundai Engineering and Construction Company. The project, known as "Hankang City," would have been one of the world's tallest buildings at 1,699.48 feet; but the project was canceled and the building was never built.
Projects
Projects
• Plaza on Dewitt (1960) • McMath–Pierce solar telescope building (1962) • Brunswick Building (1965) • Oakland Alameda County Coliseum (1966) • Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus - Keating Hall, Robert A. Pritzker Science Center, John T. Rettaliata Engineering Center, Stuart Hall (1966–1971) • The Republic Newspaper Office (1971) in Columbus, Indiana • Ruck-a-Chucky Bridge (unbuilt) planned to cross the American River in Auburn, California northeast of Sacramento
Gallery
Gallery
• Illustration — Oakland Coliseum • Illustration — Portland Memorial Coliseum • Illustration — Oracle Arena
Exhibitions
Exhibitions
• The Unknown Mies van der Rohe and His Disciples of Modernism, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (1986) • Myron Goldsmith: Poet of Structure, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal (1991)
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The canonical record carries the following identifying particulars.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that myron Goldsmith is recorded with the occupation architect. It is also recorded that myron Goldsmith is recorded as a citizen of United States. Recorded with the gender male. Born on 1 January 1918. It is also recorded that myron Goldsmith died on 1 January 1996.
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New York City.
Birth place
Chicago.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Myron Goldsmith, Structures & Architecture, 2010
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2010
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4141384: Myron Goldsmith
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Myron Goldsmith”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
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Cited by Wikipedia
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References
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
Myron Goldsmith, Structures & Architecture, 2010Crossref registry
Institutional witnessInstitutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q4141384: Myron GoldsmithWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
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