Glass House
The Glass House ( German: Glasshouse ) or Johnson House is a residential building, built in 1949, the U.S. architect Philip Johnson along with Richard Foster.
Location
The Glass House is in New Canaan, in the State of Connecticut, on a private estate and was not accessible to the public in 2007.
Architecture
The house consists of a single room with 9.6 meters wide and 16.8 meters in length. All four outer walls are completely transparent and are each interrupted by a support in the middle. Is supported the construction of a steel frame and is surrounded by an inconspicuous guardrail.
Eye of dark red brick chimney falls in the middle, made of the same material as the floor. In this brick core is the wet cell. On its outside, a fireplace is installed, behind it is a wall unit in walnut wood, which belongs to the sleeping and working area on the north side.
The Glass House is not divided into rooms. The various areas are indicated only by some internals. The kitchen has a lower cabinet in walnut wood. There is also a kind of entrance hall. The living area is highlighted by a white carpet and contains furniture, the Mies van der Rohe designed.
The Glass House was a departure from the previous idea has to look like a house, because Johnson thus promoted the idea of single-room house. Sydney LeBlanc expresses it as follows:
" The transparent house that Philip Johnson designed for himself, the idea of the home to the head, walls, windows, and private life opens outward, instead of being shielded. "
The transparency is relative, however, as the Glass House is situated on a large private estate and surrounded by trees. In addition, it was inhabited only by a single person.
Model for the Glass House was the Farnsworth House by architect Mies van der Rohe. However, Johnson led here the concept of transparency further.
History
1979 was Philip Johnson Glass House for the first time ausgelobten Pritzker Prize. On February 18, 1997 it was declared a National Historic Landmark.
Over the years, Johnson built eight other buildings on the same grounds. (1949 Guesthouse ( rebuilt in 1953 ) 1962 Pavilion 1965 Painting Gallery 1970 Sculpture Gallery 1980 Library / Study 1984 Ghost House 1985 Lincoln Kirstein Tower Gatehouse 1995 ) The last one was the red-black "Monster" ( " Monsta " ), a building at the entrance, reminiscent of Le Corbusier's chapel in Ronchamp. In this construction of the visitor center was set up later, because after Philip Johnson died in this house in January 2005, took over the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the property and made it accessible to the public in April 2007.