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BIOGRAPHIES

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Philip Cortelyou Johnson
(July 8, 1906 - January 2005) U.S.A.
Philip Johnson
Architect

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he studied philosophy and architecture at Harvard University. As coauthor of The International Style: Architecture Since 1922 (1932) and director of the architecture department (1932-;34, 1946-57) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, he did much to familiarize Americans with modern European architecture.

Philip JohnsonHe gained fame with his own Glass House (1949), which struck a balance between the influence of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (later his collaborator on the Seagram Building) and Classical allusion. In 1979 Johnson became the first recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

His style took a striking turn with the AT&T headquarters, New York (1982), a controversial postmodernist landmark, a pink skyscraper with a Chippendale-style cabinet top.

While never completely hiding his long term relationship with curator David Whitney, which began in 1960, Johnson did not officially "come out" publicly until 1994, when his biography by Franz Schulze was released.

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Works:

  • Glass house (New Canaan, Connecticut, 1949)
  • National Centre for performing arts (Bombay, India)
  • AT&T building (New York City, 1978)
  • Crystal Cathedral (Garden Grove, CA)
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