Table of Contents | Quick Index:| 17th century | 18th century | 19th century | 20th century | Architecture links | Fine Arts department home page

Philip Johnson

Philp Cortelyou Johnson b.1906. His first major work was a home he built for himself in New Canaan, CT (1949). The house was very similar to the style of Mies van der Rohe. The house is essentially a box with walls made entirely of glass. After his home was completed Johnson began moving away from Mies and that can be clearly illustrated by the guest house he built for his home in 1952. The guest house can be considered a house vault. Johnson has remained active throughout his life. There are many important urban buildings and skyscrapers throughout the country designed by Johnson including the addition to the Boston Public Library (1964-73), Pennzoil Place in Houston (1970-76), and the AT&T Building in New York (1978-83). The AT&T Building has been called the first "major monument" of Post-Modernism. It is also important to note he invented the term International Style in 1932 with the help of Henry Russell-Hitchcock. (WJC)

Philip Johnson: Glass House,  New Canaan, CT, 1949.  Photo courtesy Louis J Slovinsky (1998)	Philip Johnson: Glass  House, New Canaan, CT, 1949 Photo courtesy Louis J Slovinsky (1998)
Mies van der Rohe & P.  Johnson: Seagram Building NYC, 1954-58	P. Johnson: Kline Biology  Tower Yale U., 1966
P. Johnson & J Burgee: IDS  Center, Minneapolis, 1968-73	P. Johnson & J Burgee: IDS Center,  Minneapolis, 1968-73
Philip Johnson: Boston Public  Library Extension, 1972	Philip Johnson: Boston Public  Library Extension, 1972
P. Johnson & J Burgee: AT&T Building,  NYC, 1979-84	P. Johnson & J Burgee: International Place, Boston, 1985	P. Johnson & J Burgee: International Place, Boston, 1985

Choose a category:
 

Contents of this site

Other Architecture Web Links

Fine Arts Department Home Page

Boston College
Jeffery Howe: 1996, 1997, 1998. (email: [email protected])