essay part one

Philip Johnson’s Glass House was a major achievement when it was completed in 1949. He was inspired by the plans of Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house in Illinois. Before designing his first building at the age of 36 Johnson had been a client, critic, author, historian, museum director but not an architect. The Glass House was more of a modern style on the inside. His early influence as a practicing architect was his use of glass that was the strength of his masterpiece. He designed his own residence in Canaan, Connecticut. *The concept of a Glass House set in a landscape with views as its real “walls” had been developed by many authors in the German Glasarchitektur drawings of the 1920’s, and already sketched in initial form by Johnson's mentor Mies. The building is an essay in minimal structure, geometry, proportion, and the effects of transparency and reflection. After completing several houses in the idiom of Mies and Bruer, Johnson joined Mies in the design of the 39-story Seagram building.