Guest blog by Kevin
We visited architect Philip Johnson's iconic Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut for a guided tour on day one of the East Coast swing. Johnson was a famous architect and exhibitionist who didn't mind having his neighbors see right into (and through) his house. This masterpiece of see-through-ness was completed in 1949, about two years prior to the house of the guy from whom Johnson stole the idea. The lesser known Farnsworth House outside Chicago had been designed by Mies van der Rohe prior to construction of the Glass House, but apparently Johnson had better contractors who finished the job first, cementing his place in history.
The House is fifty four feet long and thirty four feet wide, and, as its name implies, made of glass. Thankfully, the loo is made of brick for some privacy. Johnson lived here for 50 years, until his untimely death at age 99 in 2005. Clearly, living encased in glass is good for longevity.
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| Living room with fireplace/bathroom |
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| Bedroom |
David Whitney, Johnson's partner of 45 years, was a curator and collector of modern art. The galleries on the grounds were build by Johnson specifically to hold the vast amount of art that he and Whitney had acquired from artists and friends like Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, John Chamberlain, Robert Rauschenberg and our old friend Donald Judd.
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| Fallen tree sculpture by Julian Schnabel |
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| Sculptures in the Sculpture Gallery by Chamberlain and Segal |
There are several other buildings on the property, including Johnson's library, a relaxing lake pavilion, a greenhouse, and a contemporary exhibition space known as "Da Monsta."
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| The Ghost House, which is made of chain link fence. |
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| The Lake Pavilion, which is actually only 5'8" tall. Sneaky Johnson! |
