Brochure Essay Draft 1.0

Glass houses and mammoth, sometimes controversial, towers dot the landscape that was the career of Philip Johnson, with angular designs that helped shape the architectural landscape of the 20th -Century and continue to influence the artistic conceptualization of structure today. In addition to maintaining his post as a revered architect, Johnson cut a wide and irreverent swath through the social and political climates of his day.

Philip Johnson was born on July 8th, 1906 and, from a young age, found himself fascinated with architecture (anecdotally, early passions stemmed from seeing photos of the Chartres Cathedral in France). Johnson graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Philosophy in 1927. As early as a year later, Johnson had already developed a friendship with acclaimed German architect, Mies van der Rohe. After a five-year stay in Europe, Johnson returned to the United States and found a position in the department of architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, a department he would later chair. He later returned to Harvard as a student at the Graduate School of Design and, upon graduation in 1943, immediately volunteered for the army. Upon his return, he entered the world of the working architect in full, receiving numerous high-profile projects. Throughout his career, Johnson continued to also enhance the reputation of his friend, van der Rohe, including writing a book about his architecture.

In 1949, Johnson completed what is perhaps his most recognizable structure, his Glass House in New Canaan, CT. In 1950, he joined van der Rohe in the design of the Seagram Building in New York, while continuing to extend the borders of design for both public spaces and private homes. The Seagram Building helped establish Philip Johnson as a true force in the New York architectural scene and led to further commissions including on at Lincoln Center. His confidence bolstered, Johnson’s designs continued to expand in size and creativity. Some of the projects include the Transco Tower, Tisch Hall at New York University, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Bombay, India and the controversial AT&T Tower in New York City.
Stylistically, Philip Johnson was very much a part of the modernist movement in architecture, eschewing reaching into the past for designs and instead, finding new and innovative concepts. He found a good deal of early success as a result of a book he published titled “The International Style: Architecture since 1922.” Even in this early in the 20th-Century, the modern architectural designs coming from Mies van der Rohe and others in Europe captivated the young architects imagination. Another important artistic concept adopted by Johnson was that of “processional whole, ” the idea that building is the conduit through which people progress according to defined paths.

“Architecture is surely not the design of space, certainly not the massing or organization of volumes. These are ancillary to the main point, which is the organization of procession. Architecture exists only in time.”

In an environment where there is little room for “superstars,” the lingering influence of Philip Johnson on American architecture is undeniable. The testaments of his genius stand tall and steadfast in cities and towns across the nation and the world, while his off-beat place in the artistic history of the 20th-Century lives on in his own words:

“Art has nothing to do with intellectual pursuit—it shouldn’t be in a university at all. Art should be practiced in gutters—pardon me, in attics.”

Sources:
Noble, Charles. "Philip Johnson" Thames and Hudson, Ltd. 1972
Walker, Jade. "Philip Johnson" The Blog of Death, Jan. 31, 2005. http://www.blogofdeath.com/archives/001296.html