20070607

glass house


starting june 21st people can start visiting the glass house made by philip johnson 58 years ago.

for those who like fame and celebrities, there is a whole article in nytimes with more photos and sayings of influential men plus [some] women related to the house. thanks to my thoughtful colleague i can always have access to the most interesting articles of the newspaper without having to go through it!
although bee-zee has devoted an enormous amount of space and time to post about the farnsworth house [which was the house that philip johnson first admired and then copied] and although bee-zee is very sensitive regarding originality and invention and although bee-zee does not like andy warhol [1964]... is still posting this photo that can capture part of the mood and atmosphere of those days.
"In the 60s, Mr. Johnson threw a big party for Merce Cunningham. It was at the time of all the massive publicity for Andy Warhol. I think MoMA had just bought the soup can.

I was standing with a double scotch, hoping for the best. It was spring and twilighty. All these people milling around, very glamorous. I said: “Mr. Johnson, look over there. There’s a white-haired man coming in.” I thought it was an old guy. Philip said, “It’s Andy.” Everyone went over to say hello, except me. I didn’t know who he was.

It was John Cage music and Merce Cunningham’s dancers — beautiful dancers. Cage’s music had something to do with doors slamming and whistles going off. Then great balloons — some big and black, some small and red and yellow. It was very strange. I thought to myself: “Here we are in 1967, standing next to a glass house listening to doors slam and whistles going off. This is out of this world.” It was so out of context for suburbia in the 60s. You were talking about car pools and how not to have babies.

We left shortly thereafter. My then-husband thought the whole thing was humbug."
ms smithers, probably ex-wife of ruth smithers, a longtime new canaan resident.

phillip johnson's companion, mr david whitney:

Labels: ,

23 Comments:

Blogger marl(t) said...

I was reading just the other day that Johnson was obsessed with tidiness and kept picking up his visitors' stuff and tucking them away so they wouldn't mess with the glass house's...erm...well, image. So it hits me as a surprise that he actually had a party there, what if somebody spilled wine on the carpet? :P

6/08/2007 05:09:00 AM  
Blogger zenovia said...

was there a carpet, an american carpet floor? i would be disappointed.
at least he had put all the leather mies furniture to avoid stains of red wine on possible white fabrics.

personally i think many architects are dreaming of a minimal space or an empty desk.

from the other hand:
if a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?" - albert einstein

6/09/2007 05:28:00 PM  
Blogger marl(t) said...

well, I don't know... Rem in his office. You think we can reach conclusions from this photo?

6/10/2007 05:37:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

6/11/2007 03:29:00 PM  
Blogger marl(t) said...

yes, but was it designed before Farnsworth?

6/11/2007 05:03:00 PM  
Blogger zenovia said...

“I pointed out to him (Mies) that it (a glass house) was impossible because you had to have rooms, and that meant solid walls up against the glass, which ruined the whole point. Mies said, ‘I THINK IT CAN BE DONE.’” Philip Johnson speaking at a symposium held at the School of Architecture, Columbia University, 1961

6/11/2007 09:27:00 PM  
Blogger Mave said...

@naonymous: P.Johnson has many times stated that he just copied Mies, right out without any remorse or ethical restraint against coping.

6/12/2007 04:11:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mave, can you give me these instances? citations?

6/12/2007 10:17:00 AM  
Blogger zenovia said...

a reminder:
everybody is free to express any opinion related to the topics posted, as anonymous or eponymous. as long as [s]he is using an acceptable language.

due to inappropriate expression, i have to delete one of the comments on this post.
for the sake of record i keep a part of the comment:
"johnson's house was before the fransworth house".

in the future comments as such will be deleted immediately.

6/12/2007 09:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

6/13/2007 09:22:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

seriously, you are in favor of censorship?
how can you be expected to be taken seriously when you censor other people's views, or when the question the validity of your posts?

6/13/2007 12:03:00 PM  
Blogger ica said...

i dont think she is censoring anything: she, in fact, mentioned part of your comment to let you express your point of view.
It seems to me she only asked you to change your language. and i am happy she did it, bacause that type of language offend ME personally..so i am glad she deleted those comments!
Whatever you think, this is a free world, but you should learn how to be part of a conversation and NOT DARE to offend or insult others!
THANK YOU!
And btw..since you want to express your opinion and bother about censorship, you PROBABLY also want to let us know who you are.THANK YOU AGAIN!

6/13/2007 12:17:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First of all, I don't think you understand the entire concept of censorship, because that is entirely what this sorry excuse for a blog is. Secondly, you should not worry about who I am as much as the falsities and half truths proclaimed on this blog. And thirdly, if you must know, you can reach me here: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=52268160

6/13/2007 02:02:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

''Mies thought the workmanship was bad, that the design was bad, that it was a bad copy of his Farnsworth house, which had inspired me,'' Mr. Johnson said. ''He thought I should have understood his work better.'' Mies also disapproved of the fact that the ceiling joists were of wood.

From> Johnson and His Glass House: Reflections
NYtimes
By JOSEPH GIOVANNINI
Published: July 16, 1987

CP (not to be confused with the other Anonymous)

6/13/2007 03:11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that quote does not solve the issue at hand.

6/13/2007 03:39:00 PM  
Blogger ica said...

anonymous (NOT CP)..i dont have time to waste with you, but dont worry we forgive you for your ignorance...we can understand by your comments that you are not an architect.... so you are not expected to know this stuff and make serious conversation about it!
you need to divert..because you dont know what to say! keep raising the visits though! you make a good job at that!

6/13/2007 03:47:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

henrica,
you are right. my apologies. please teach me about architecture. you are the all encompasing.

6/13/2007 03:51:00 PM  
Blogger Senamun Llewellyn said...

Ok folks, let me weigh in for a minute. I have a few blogs and 25+ forums or so as moderator. These things work as follows. The owner of the blog decides what stays in and what not. There is nothing democratic about it. believe me I've had my share of individuals who thought they should give their opinion how it should work but that's beyond the issue. If something is right or wrong is not even the issue. The owner makes a post. Anyone can comment what he likes. But anyone who does comment has to realize that his or her comment may vanish. I comment occasionally on blogs and sometimes they remove it. And sometimes yes there is that question mark about why? But that's the internet folks! Move on! On your own website you are basically God! And it's fun! For a change you are in control! You can bash someones head in with a comment or plainly let that person disappear! If we could only do this in real life haha!

6/13/2007 03:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

well, it's good that this guy said so.

6/13/2007 04:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for article!

8/17/2007 04:54:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for interesting article.

8/18/2007 02:54:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad to read articles like this. Thanks to author!

8/28/2007 10:32:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent website. Good work. Very useful. I will bookmark!

9/09/2007 03:49:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home