Linköping University

Linköping University Group 9b

The Glass House by Philip Johnson

Linköping University

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 life-style stage to live with”

Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Arthur Drexler

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Linköping University

“Less is more” - Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe.

“…unity, order, purity…” 

“Why not take out the landscaping, the retain-ing 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 trans-parency and reflection”.

Linköping University

• 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 environ-ment, 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 produc-tion directly; in modern times all would have to undergo many changes before the design is final-ized 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 epitom-izes the International Style and has long been regarded as one of the premier representatives of modernism”

- National Historic Landmark program

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• Transparency

• Open/Integration between internal, external space.

• Light - connecting to transparency, the house has the most light.

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• Art of homemaking• Domesticity • Interior decoration• Environmental aesthetics

Linköping University

• 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 sociologi-cal aspects of our architecture.“

- Philip Johnson

Linköping University

http://architecture.about.com/library/blpoll-glass.htm