INTRODUCTION

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PHILIP JOHNSON BORN IN 1906, IN CLEVELAND, OHIO .

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AFTER GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL HE ATTENDED HARVARD COLLEGE, WHERE HE STUDIED CLASSICS.

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AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-SIX HE BECAME THE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART’S NEW ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT.

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HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE INFLUENTIAL DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN AT MOMA. AS CO-AUTHOR (WITH HENRY-RUSSELL HITCHCOCK JR.) OF THE MOMA EXHIBITION CATALOG "THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE: ARCHITECTURE SINCE 1922" (1932), JOHNSON IS CREDITED WITH INTRODUCING EUROPEAN MODERNISM TO AMERICA.

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JOHNSON INTERRUPTED HIS EDUCATION WITH SEVERAL EXTENDED TRIPS TO EUROPE.

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THESE TRIPS BECAME THE PIVOTAL MOMENT OF HIS EDUCATION; HE VISITED CHARTRES, THE PARTHENON, AND MANY OTHER ANCIENT MONUMENTS, WHICH AROUSE GREAT INTERST IN HIM TOWARDS ARCHITECTURE.

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BEFORE DESIGNING HIS FIRST BUILDING AT THE AGE OF 36, JOHNSON HAD BEEN CLIENT, CRITIC, AUTHOR, HISTORIAN, MUSEUM DIRECTOR, BUT NOT AN ARCHITECT.

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IN 1941 PHILIP JOHNSON RETURNED TO HARVARD AS A STUDENT UNDER GROPIUS AND MARCEL BREUR.

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HIS FIRST PRACTICAL ARCHITECTURAL WORK IN 1949,WAS A RESIDENCE FOR HIMSELF IN NEW CANAAN, CONNECTICUT FOR HIS MASTER DEGREE THESIS, THE NOW FAMOUS GLASS HOUSE.

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HE WIDENED HIS CONNECTIONS WITH MODERN ARCHITECTS IN EUROPE AND ORGANISED EXHIBITIONS OF MODERN ARCHITECTS.

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HE MADE A NUMBER OF OTHER HOUSES IN A SIMILAR VANE AND THROUGHOUT THE 1950S DESIGNED MANY WELL-KNOWN WORKS INCLUDING THE SEAGRAM BUILDING IN NEW YORK CITY, DONE IN COLLABORATION WITH MIES VAN DER ROHE.

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FROM 1967 TO 1989 JOHNSON COLLABORATED WITH JOHN BURGEE, HIS MOST PRODUCTIVE PERIOD CERTAINLY BY THE MEASURE OF SCALE -- HE BECAME KNOWN AT THIS TIME AS BUILDER OF ICONIC OFFICE TOWERS.

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SINCE 1989, JOHNSON, SEMI-RETIRED, DEVOTED HIS TIME MAINLY TO PROJECTS OF HIS OWN, BUT STILL WAS A CONSULTANT TO JOHN BURGEE ARCHITECTS.

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JOHNSON DIED IN JANUARY 2005

PHILOSPHY

ACCORDING TO PHILIP JOHNSON ‘CRUTCHES’ BY WHICH ARCHITECTS EVADE THEIR REAL RESPONSIBILITIES ARE HISTORY – I.E. JUSTIFYING ELEMENTS WHICH ARE EARLIER USED.

UTILITY- I.E. IF UTILITY OF A BUILDING OVERCOMES ARTISTIC INVENTIONS ,THEN IT IS MERELY AN ASSEMBLAGE OF USEFUL PARTS.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE

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THOUGH HE BEGAN IN THE STARK STYLE OF MIES VAN DER ROHE’S WORK, BY THE 1960S HE HAD TURNED TO A MORE INDIVIDUAL STYLE THAT INCORPORATED HISTORICAL ELEMENTS.

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HIS GREATEST INFLUENCE AS AN ARCHITECT WAS HIS USE OF GLASS.

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JOHNSON WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO EXPERIMENT WITH ALL-GLASS FACADES, AND BY THE 1980S SUCH BUILDINGS HAD BECOME COMMONPLACE THE WORLD OVER.

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HE EVENTUALLY REJECTED MUCH OF THE METALLIC APPEARANCE OF EARLIER INTERNATIONAL STYLE BUILDINGS, AND BEGAN DESIGNING CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURES UNIFORMLY SHEATHED IN GLASS.

SPECTACULAR,

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HE BELIEVES IN "ARCHITECTURE IS BASICALLY THE DESIGN OF INTERIORS, THE ART OF ORGANIZING INTERIOR SPACE."

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WITH THE LATER WORK OF THE 1970S AND 1980S, JOHNSON BEGAN TO MANIPULATE BOTH TEXTURE AND COLOR ON THE EXTERIOR OF HIS LARGER BUILDINGS.

WORKS GLASS HOUSE ,NEW CANAAN(1949)

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ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL YET LEAST FUNCTIONAL HOUSES

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TRANSPARENT OPEN-PLAN FRAME STRUCTURE WHICH WAS HIS OWN RESIDENCE.

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IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY MIES' FARNSWORTH HOUSE

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BATH IN BRICK CYLINDER.

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INCLUDES OUTDOOR SCULPTURE AND A SEPARATE BLANK-WALLED BRICK GUEST HOUSE

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SPATIAL DIVISIONS IN THE GLASS BUILDING ARE ACHIEVED BY A BRICK CYLINDER CONTAINING A BATHROOM, AND BY LOW WALNUT CABINETS —ONE OF THEM CONTAINING KITCHEN EQUIPMENT.

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IT WAS A BUILDING REALLY EXPRESSING MANY CONCERNS OF CLASSIC DESIGN, FROM THE ELEVATED PLACEMENT OF AN OBJECT IN A SPACE, TO ITS SERENE PROPORTION, GENERAL OVERALL SYMMETRY, AND COMBINING OF A BALANCE OF ELEMENTS

Simple rectangular plan 56 ’-0” x 32’-0”

Glass walls Steel frame structure Wooden block flooring Chairs designed by Mies van der rohe

KNESES TIFERETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE,PORT CHESTER, NY

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ELLYPTICAL ENTRANCE PORCH LINKED TO RECTANGULAR BODY OF THE MAIN

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BUILDING.

COLOURED SLIT WINDOWS ON CONCRETE-BLOCK WALLS OF MAIN BUILDING,GIVE LIGHTNESS

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CURVED FALSE CEILING

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DOMED ENTRANCE.

Auditorium Toilets Vaulted false work Rectangular main hall Elliptical entrance porch

Section through elliptical false ceiling porch and rectangular mainhall Detail of vaulted falsework

Main cubical hall Slit windows Walls made up of Concrete blocks Dome with canopy At top Elliptical main entrance

Interiors showing coloured Glass set in wall slits.

FOUR SEASON RESTAURANT, SEAGRAM BUILDING, N.Y. (1959)

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LOCATED ON FIRST FLOOR OF SEAGRAM BUILDING

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THE RESTAURANT IS COMPRISED OF TWO PUBLIC DINING ROOMS THAT SET A NEW AMERICAN STYLE OF RESTAURANT

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TO MATCH EXTERIOR BRONZE CLADDING, INTERIOR COLUMNS ARE FACED IN BRONZE

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WALLS ARE SURFACED IN A THICK FRENCH WALNUT VENEER

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CURTAINS FORMED FROM NO. OF THIN CHAINS OF ANODIZED ALUMINIUM.

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LARGE RECTANGULAR POOL IS LINED WITH MARBLE

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HIGH CEILINGS AND HARDWOOD SURFACES

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IN THE POOL ROOM, THE WATER IN THE POOL BABBLES SOOTHINGLY AND THROWS OFF PACIFYING WHITE NOISE THAT ABSORBS OTHER SOUNDS.

Curtains made from chains Of anodized aluminium Thin structural columns Acting as mullions

Part of interior showing Pool Chairs designed by Mies van der rohe

Interior view showing suspended sculpture Chain curtains

PUERTA DE EUROPA

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It is a major office and residential project which stands astride the paseo da castellana , Madrid’s most important boulevard, on the north side of the plaza de castilla.

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This bold move creates a portal which being at the northern end of business district , becomes the gateway to Europe.

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The buildings have plan dimensions of 35 mts. X 36 mts.

RESIDENCES TWIN OFFICE BLOCKS GROUND FLOOR PLAN

Building slope is 14.3 degrees Height above plaza is 113.56 mts.

Height above base -ment 123 .76 mts.

Floor to floor height is 3.97 mts.

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Symmetry is main governing principle.

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Verticality dominates .

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Central axis runs in plan .