Born in Budapest Hungary in 1902, he spent most of his youth in Transylvania.
After the collapse of the Hungarian Empire his family moved to Paris in 1920.
Goldfinger studied architecture at the Ecole des Beaux Arts Paris.
In Paris he met the swiss architect and pioneer of Modernist design LeCourbousier
"a house is a machine for living in".
He also worked with Auguste Perret the French architect
who was one of the first to use reinforced concrete.
Goldfinger moved to London in 1934 with his new wife Ursula Blackwell (of the Crosse and Blackwell family) and became a British citizen in 1946.
In 1939 he built a suitably Modernist house in Hampstead North London on
the site of Georgian cottages which were destroyed to make room for it.This
outraged the locals notably one- Ian Fleming author of the
James Bond novels who took his revenge by naming the villain in his latest
book Goldfinger after him.
Despite local objections Goldfinger built his house which was a masterpiece
of Modern design and became a listed building in 1970.
Today number 2 Willow Road is a popular tourist attraction, opened to the public by the National Trust as a prime example of 1930's Modernism- radical compared to the conventional - he lived there till he died.
His architectural design was in high demand, as he had a reputation for getting the best space out of a site.No space was wasted, everything was integrated and well designed he did'nt like compromise. "Space is very valuable and easily lost."
In 1967 he won a civic trust award for his Alaxander Fleming house in Elephant and Castle South East London.
Trellick Tower was Goldfingers last big project and ruined his career, as it was unloved and people were calling for it to be demolished.He retired in 1977 and died ten years later ironically after his death Trellick was appreciated as the superb design it was.In 1988 Trellick Tower became a grade 2 listed building by English Heritage now it can't be pulled down.