Design Spotlight: Philip Johnson

Synopsis

Philip Johnson was an architect and theorist who designed his own home, the Glass House, New Canaan, CT, on principles of space unification derived from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, with whom he designed the Seagram Building skyscraper, New York City (1945). Further works include the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, TX (1961) and the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center (1964). He was the inaugural winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979.

Profile

Architect and theorist, born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. A graduate of Harvard, he also studied under Marcel Breuer, and became a proponent of the International Style. He designed his own home, the Glass House, New Canaan, CT (1949–50), on principles of space unification derived from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, with whom he designed the Seagram Building skyscraper, New York City (1945). Further works include the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, TX (1961), the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center (1964), the American Telephone and Telegraph Company building in New York City (1978–84), and the Cathedral of Hope, Dallas (1998). He was the inaugural winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1979.