S3E6: Philip Johnson

Philip Cortelyou Johnson may be more responsible than anyone for the shift from Modernism as a new way of living to Modernism as an elite bauble. Born into immense power and privilege, he was a deeply committed elitist, and dilettante fascist, who used his money and connections to whitewash his youthful (and ongoing) embrace of Hitler in specific and far-right politics in general. As a key curator and preacher of the Modernist gospel in the United States, he was central in divorcing the style from its egalitarian political aspirations. In response to criticism, he said: “I am a whore. Very well paid.”

PHOTO: BRUCE DAVIDSON/MAGNUM.

SOURCES:

Fixsen, Anna. “The Power and Paradox of Philip Johnson.” Metropolis, December 3, 2018. https://www.metropolismag.com/architecture/philip-johnson-biography-mark-lamster-interview/.

Goldberger, Paul. “A New Biography of the Architect Philip Johnson, the ‘Man in the Glass House.’” The New York Times, December 20, 2018, sec. Books.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/books/review/mark-lamster-philip-johnson-man-in-the-glass-house.html.

Johnson, Philip, Robert A. M. Stern, and Kazys Varnelis. The Philip Johnson Tapes: Interviews by Robert A.M. Stern. 1st ed. New York: Monacelli Press, 2008.

Kaiser, Charles. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. 1. Grove Press ed. New York: Grove Press, 2007.

Lamster, Mark. The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century. First edition. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2018.

Ravenscroft, Tom. “Bjarke Ingels Meets Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro to ‘Change the Face of Tourism in Brazil.’” Dezeen, January 17, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/01/17/bjarke-ingels-jair-bolsonaro-brazil-president/.

———. “Criticism of Jair Bolsonaro Meeting Is ‘an Oversimplification of a Complex World’ Says Bjarke Ingels.” Dezeen, January 23, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/01/23/jair-bolsonaro-bjarke-ingels/.

Schulze, Franz. Philip Johnson: Life and Work. Chicago, Ill.: University of Chicago Press, 1996.

Stern, Mark J. “‘The Glass House’ as Gay Space: Exploring the Intersection of Homosexuality and Architecture.” Inquiries Journal 4, no. 06 (2012). http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/651/the-glass-house-as-gay-space-exploring-the-intersection-of-homosexuality-and-architecture.

Wainwright, Oliver. “‘Norman Said the President Wants a Pyramid’: How Starchitects Built Astana.” The Guardian, October 17, 2017, sec. Cities. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/oct/17/norman-foster-president-pyramid-architects-built-astana.

———. “The Despot Dilemma: Should Architects Work for Repressive Regimes?” The Guardian, January 27, 2020, sec. Art and design. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/jan/27/despot-dilemma-should-architects-work-for-repressive-regimes-bjarke-ingels.

Wortman, Marc. 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War. First edition. New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2016.

———. “Famed Architect Philip Johnson’s Hidden Nazi Past.” Vanity Fair. Accessed April 27, 2020. https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman.

Image via: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Philip_Johnson.2002.FILARDO.jpg