Glass House, (New Cannan, CT); 1949-Present; Modernist

Glass House(Connecticut)- Modern

 

         Creator of one of the first International Style of residential building, Philip Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. He began his professional career as the director of the architectural department at the MoMA in New York City. In the same year Hitchcock and he collabed to write “The International Style” (1931). Johnson decided to change to a more hands on approach, and returned to Hartford's design school. Johnson was mentored by Mies van der Rohe using his style to create his first works, like the Glass House, and even designing the Seagram Building with Mies. As the new styles of architecture changed, so did his style. In the 1960s he took on a more historical motif, or decorative Classism, which became more known as the post modernism. As the deconstructivist style grew Johnson took on the style as well. Mies’ rules greatly influenced Johnson to break from the international style because of the restrictions that Johnson felt.

Following Mies’ rule of the honesty of material, and the exposure of the structure Johnson created the Glass House. He made the Glass House his by placing it in a secluded and forest landscape. When walking up to the house all one sees is a symmetrical 5 glass panel design. The Glass Houses reflection of the surrounding nature creates an illusion in which the structure seems to merge with the surrounding forest. Once entering the house the interior contrasts by being asymmetrical. It is a complete open floor plan, with the exception of the circular bathroom. Being the only private space in the house, it contrast the transparency of the glass, with the opacity of brick. This is also the only element that penetrates the roof. Since there are no walls he uses the furniture to define the different spaces. The living room is defined by a rug and couches, the kitchen by cabinets, and his bedroom is separated by closets. The furniture never changes, while the exterior is always changing from the seasonal weather. Philip Johnson was only able to create this completely glass house because of his use of a steel H-beam frame. All the load from the roof is transferred to the brick cylinder, acting as a bearing wall. Johnson created many micro scaled contrast with brick and glass. On a macro scale, he placed his Brick House in contrast. While the Glass house is completely transparent, the Brick house has only three circular windows in the back. The Brick House was used for house guest. It’s interesting to see, how for himself he was comfortable being completely transparent, but understands that for most they are not ready for that type of honesty.

Since the Glass House was the first residential building to follow the International Style of architecture, it made a large impact towards the 20th century. Open floor plans were unheard of at the time, but Johnson knew that to have a completely glass house, walls would not work. He wanted to keep the materials as pure as possible, which was also a big concept working with the international style. The steel structure is completely exposed along with the brick anchor that makes up the bathroom. The house creates a relationship with the landscape by matching its contour and structure. The Glass House is what represents the style that is most commonly seen in houses today.

Plan

Works Cited

Vidler, Anthony. “What Philip Johnson's Glass House Says About the Architect.” Architectural Record RSS, 28 Feb. 2018, www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/13265-what-philip-johnsons-glass-house-says-about-the-architect.

Perez, Adelyn. “AD Classics: The Glass House / Philip Johnson.” ArchDaily, 17 May 2010, www.archdaily.com/60259/ad-classics-the-glass-house-philip-johnson.

WNPRvideo, director. An Inside Look at Philip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. YouTube, YouTube, 29 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nkw0nULR6I.

“The Glass House.” The Glass House The Glass House Comments, theglasshouse.org/explore/the-glass-house/.
Johnson, Philip, and Paul Goldberger. The Glass House. Rizzoli, 2012.
Cassidy-Geiger, Maureen. The Philip Johnson Glass House: an Architect in the Garden. Skira Rizzoli Publications Inc., 2016.