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Courtesy of Paul Warchol |
A see-through icon of architecture
Visitors can now tour architect Philip Johnson's famed Glass House in Connecticut.
from the September 19, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Many of Johnson's buildings came to reflect a Pop Art sensibility, but his tastes were too wide-ranging to fit neatly into either the Minimalist or Pop Art camps. He also drew inspiration from disciplines other than architecture and counted among his friends the choreographer Merce Cunningham and the artist Andy Warhol.
His work couldn't be pigeonholed. Johnson said: "People say about me, I'm the best architect because I change all the time. They say, I'm the worst architect because I change all the time."
The architect took his legacy seriously, but his hubris is tempered with flashes of humor, which find expression in the structures he built at the Connecticut site to suit himself and his partner, art collector David Whitney.
Johnson relished his privacy, going so far as to remodel the guesthouse so that its tomblike interior contained a stark bedroom and a reading room, in a veiled effort to discourage friends from staying more than one night.
His 1990s design for a visitors' center on the property, called Da Monsta (as in "monster"), is as close as a building can come to pure sculpture, with its colorful warped and twisted interlocking forms.
"The only test for architecture," Johnson once said, "is to build a building, go inside, and let it wrap itself around you."
Artistic buildings for displaying art
The tour moves on to the subterranean Painting Gallery, constructed in 1965, which feels like a cross between a military bunker and an Egyptian tomb. The gallery houses a rotating collection of modern art, including works by Frank Stella (a friend of the architect) and an Andy Warhol print of Johnson.
A short distance away is the Sculpture Gallery, built in 1970. Here, stairs descend into small rooms that each feature a different sculptor's work, including that of Robert Rauschenberg and George Segal. The staircases were inspired by those Johnson saw in Greek villages, according to Fernandez.
As our hour draws to a close, we again pass the Glass House, where another tour is under way. The transparent walls offer an unobstructed view of the participants, whose forms come together and shift apart in uninterrupted motion, like dancers. The house seems to both display and embrace its occupants. The sense of theater is complete.
• The Glass House site is open from April through October. Visitors are required to make advance reservations; tours for the rest of 2007 are sold out, and 2008 tours are half sold out. Cost of a tour ranges from $25 to $40. To make a reservation or to learn more, phone (203) 966-8167 or visit the website, www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org
New Canaan: hotbed of modern architecture
Philip Johnson was not the only architect who found fertile ground in New Canaan, Conn.
No less a master than Frank Lloyd Wright added his imprimatur by designing the Rayward House in 1955. A quintet of architects trained at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD) in Cambridge, Mass., also found their way to this New England village, building homes for themselves and clients from 1947 to 1966. The group was dubbed "The Harvard Five," and it included Marcel Breuer, Eliot Noyes, John Johansen, Landis Gores, and Philip Johnson – all of whom had connections to Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus and later chairman of the GSD architecture department.
All but two of their houses remain in private hands, with only the Glass House open to the public. The New Canaan Historical Society has plans to restore the Gores Pavilion, designed by Landis Gores in 1959, for eventual use as a cultural center. Occasional house tours and programs are offered by the historical society. The next event is an all-day symposium and tour of homes by Noyes, Victor Christ-Janer, Edward Stone, and others on Nov.3. The cost is $250.
For a free overview, visitors can take in an ongoing exhibition at the society, "New Canaan Architects 1953-1983," which features the work of these prolific individuals as they developed signature styles and moved out into the world. For more information, visit www.nchistory.org or phone (203) 966-1776.
New Canaan also boasts historic structures that date back to Colonial and pre-Civil War eras.
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