BIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

PHILIP
JOHNSON
“All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that
contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space.”

BORN: JULY 8, 1906

American architect and critic known both for his promotion of the International Style and, later, for
his role in defining postmodernist architecture.

Even before he began designing buildings, Philip Johnson (1906–2005) was influencing
architecture. At age 26, the Cleveland native and Harvard graduate became the first director of the
department of architecture at the Museum of Modern Art. During his tenure at MoMA, Johnson
promoted the work of modern architects including Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius, and
along with Henry-Russell Hitchcock, he curated the controversial 1932 show “Modern Architecture:
International Exhibition,” which introduced America to European modernism.
Johnson returned to Harvard in 1940 to study architecture with Marcel Breuer, and in the late
1940s and ’50s he designed several of his most iconic structures, including his New Caanan,
Connecticut, residence, the Glass House, and the Seagram Building in New York, which was a
collaboration with Mies van der Rohe.

In 1979, Johnson was the first recipient of the Pritzker Prize. From his early modern structures
to his later postmodern buildings, Johnson defined several architectural movements over
the course of his decades-long career.
 NOTABLE WORKS

THE GLASS THE PARK JOHNSON’S CRYSTAL NONDENOMINATIO

HOUSE AVENUE TOWER AT&T BUILDING CATHEDRAL NAL ROTHKO
CHAPELDRAL

THE LIPSTICK DALLAS AMON CENTER CHAPEL OF DAVID H. KOCH

BUILDING THANKSGIVING MUSEUM ST. BASIL THEATER
SQUARE
BY:PHILIP JOHNSON
THE GLASS HOUSE
LOCATION: 798–856 PONUS RIDGE ROAD,
NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT, USA
SCALE: 2 STORIES
PROJECT YEAR: 1945 – 1949
“The Glass House started because of the land that was there. (…) And it was
all conditioned by the landscape itself. In finding that little knoll, I was in
the middle of the woods in the middle of the winter and I almost didn’t
find it. I found a great oak tree and I hung a whole design on the oak tree
and the knoll because of this place. Don’t forget, it is more of a landscape
park than it is a work of architecture, anyhow. (…) It’s just a sort of a
landscape in which I focused it on this knoll and this oak tree. And the
view from that knoll and the view back was how I figured the whole
thing.”

– Philip Johnson
THE ICONIC GLASS HOUSE: A LOOK AT ITS HISTORY

The Philip Johnson Glass House, located in Connecticut, is an iconic

example of Modernist architecture, characterized by its use of glass, steel, and a
minimalist interior. The house is 56 ft. long, 32 ft. wide, and 10.5 ft. high, with
glass walls on the exterior and low walnut cabinets dividing the interior space.
The Glass House served as both a living and entertaining space, with a glass-
enclosed room featuring the kitchen, dining, and sleeping areas. The bathroom
is contained in a brick cylinder, the only object in the house to reach floor-to-
ceiling. The exterior is made of charcoal-painted steel and glass, while the
interior is open and uncluttered, with the landscape serving as its “wallpaper.”

The estate also includes the Brick House, which served as a guest house, and 14
other structures designed by Johnson, including the Pavilion on the Pond,
Painting and Sculpture Galleries, the Study, the Ghost House, and “Da Monsta.”
These structures range from rectangular to circular, with the Glass House being
rectangular and the Brick House facing it. The Study was used for work, and the
galleries were used to store and display the art collection. Other structures were
deemed “follies” due to their unusable size or shape, such as the low-ceilinged
Pavilion on the Pond or the Ghost House, made of chain-link fencing and lilies.
“LESS IS NOT NECESSARILY MORE,
JUST ENOUGH IS MORE.”
– PHILIP JOHNSON
DESIGNING THE GLASS HOUSE: A STUDY IN MODERN ARCHITECTURE

The Glass House features an open floor plan, with areas referred to
as “rooms” despite the lack of walls, including a kitchen, dining room, living
room, bedroom, hearth area, bathroom, and an entrance area. The furniture
in the Glass House was sourced from Johnson’s New York apartment,
designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1930, and includes the now-iconic daybed
designed specifically for Johnson by Mies.

The focal point of the Glass House is the living room, with a rug defining the
space and seating around a low table anchoring it. The placement of
furniture is precise and contrasts with the ever-changing landscape outside.
The bedroom, separated from the living room by built-in storage cabinets
with walnut veneer, is the most private room in the house and contains a
small desk.

Johnson designed the house over a span of three years. The structure
gained Johnson recognition in both architectural and popular circles,
including features in Life magazine and New York Times Magazine. Michael
Sorkin described Johnson as having a talent for publicity, setting him apart
as the leader of the Modernist style.
THAT’S ALL
THANK YOU
RALP BUDIONGAN
BSARCH 2A