The Glass House
by Philip Johnson
Linköping University
Group 9
The Glass House
• 1949, New Canaan, USA
• by Philip Johnson as his own residence,
“Glass House, one of the world's most beautiful yet least functional
houses; it was never envisioned as a 'home' (house) to live in but a lifestyle stage to live with”
Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Arthur Drexler
Linköping University
Video playing
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“Less is more”
- Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe.
“…unity, order, purity…”
“Why not take out the landscaping, the
retaining walls, the colonnades? The building
would be just as useful and much cheaper”.
- Philip Johnson
“The building is an essay in minimal structure,
geometry, proportion, and the effects of
transparency and reflection”.
Linköping University
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Changing world, post-war American society
Refuse smooth change
Efficiency, functionality
Lean life-style & economic cautiousness”
Unity with conquered nature
Transparency and uniqueness
Simplicity
"Glass house is symmetrical and sits solidly on
the ground."
“Glass house affirms the power of human beings
to create, improve, and reshape their
environment, with the aid of practical
experimentation, scientific knowledge or
technology”
Linköping University
“The house was hated, when it was
built”
- Philip Johnson
Fresh air and look into the future.
Linköping University
The Glass house creates an
illusion, prototype, a pure idea.
“Concept cars never go into
production directly; in modern times
all would have to undergo many
changes before the design is
finalized for the sake of practicality,
safety and cost”.
Linköping University
Important contribution
to world architecture
“...masterwork, key monument in post-war
construction. It is significant because it
epitomizes the International Style and has
long been regarded as one of the premier
representatives of modernism”
- National Historic Landmark program
Linköping University
• Transparency
• Open/Integration between internal, external space.
• Light - connecting to transparency, the house has the most light.
Linköping University
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Linköping University
Art of homemaking
Domesticity
Interior decoration
Environmental aesthetics
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Rejection of tradition.
Human is a powerful creator.
Expression of power over nature- nature is a wallpapers
Нuman can break all limits- through new materials
Linköping University
Beautiful !!!
Worth to be considered as an art piece !!!
• Innovative idea
• Unity of man & nature
• Uniqueness
“...Comfort is not a function of beauty... purpose is not necessary to make a building
beautiful...sooner or later we will fit our buildings so that they can be used...where form
comes from I don't know, but it has nothing at all to do with the functional or
sociological aspects of our architecture.“
- Philip Johnson
Linköping University
http://architecture.about.com/library/blpoll-glass.htm
Linköping University