The Glass House a famous piece of architecture built by Phillip Johnson is a home that leaves nothing to the imagination. The house is made of glass and encompasses no interior walls. This house sits alone on land filled with woods and fields and was made to create a sense of being one with nature.
Phillip Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 8, 1906. He attended Harvard College where his main concentrations were on classics and philosophy he graduated in 1930. Ten years later in 1940 Johnson discovered a love for architecture and returned to Harvard to study it. From here he went on to build some of the most influential works of his time, right up to his death in January of 2005. Some of Johnson’s other works include the Seagram Building in New York City and the Crystal Cathedral in California both of which marvel the people who visit them. Johnson often worked closely with David Whitney another architect of the 20th century. After hearing Johnson speak and visiting his Glass House Whitney and Johnson became partners and friends until Johnson’s death.
The Glass House sits on forty-seven acres of land in New Canaan, Connecticut which Johnson bought some of in 1945. The house was to be a product of what Philip Johnson thought of as peaceful because he built the house for his own personal use. He was inspired by Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth house, which was also built using mainly glass. The two houses are very similar; they both incorporate glass and steel into their design and have no interior walls so that the view is not obstructed.
Construction for the Glass House was started in 1948 after Johnson had designed the house to suit his style. Being that the house was relatively simple to build it was completed just a year later in 1949. In the making of the Glass House Johnson used three main materials for the design. The exterior walls were made of nothing but glass and are supported by steel painted in a charcoal color. The brick is used as the floor for the home and also is used in the circular element Johnson incorporated into the home. The circular element runs from the floor to the ceiling and houses the fireplace and the bathroom. This is the only wall-like structure in this house and is used to keep the bathroom private and to contrast the rectangular house.
This house was built to bring nature inside by using glass walls the sense of being in nature is heightened. Johnson had two major choices he could either build a house that related fully to the nature that surrounded it or he could contrast nature by making the house completely different. Johnson chose to contrast nature. He used a rectangular shape and materials not found in nature to make the home stand out amongst its surroundings. While the house stands naked to the world Johnson placed the home where he would be surrounded by nothing by nature as a place to be free from everyday life and to unmask ones true self.
2 comments:
write about what is the major IDEA about this house, and WHY? less descriptive, and more your voice...what do you think. go back and edit down the extraneous details that you introduced, get at the essence of what the structure is about.
You may want to rethink some of the drawings you have suggested, (sections and elevations) do they all inform your writing or should you find another way to support your text.
Looking at the physical aspects of these homes similarities are obvious in their design. Mies Van Der Rohe’s usage of steel, glass, and stone in the Farnsworth House served as an inspiration for the design of the Glass House by Phillip Johnson. When Johnson seen the concept of the Farnsworth House he stated that the Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe was a, “…radical departure from his last European domestic projects.” After the Farnsworth completion, Johnson went on to complete the Glass House. Although similar in visual characteristics, the concept behind the two varies. With the Farnsworth house, it is elevated five feet to help prevent flooding as opposed to the Glasshouse which is built directly onto the land. Although both homes bring in nature like pictures on a wall, the Farnsworth house does a better job of allowing the people who inhabit the space privacy. This minor state of privacy is made possible by the wood paneling that works as a divider creating the illusion of multiple rooms as opposed to a freestanding central fireplace in the Glasshouse.
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