Book Description
A virtual tour of thirty-five landmark houses, 1947-1966, built in a quiet New England community.
Since the fifties, "the Harvard Five" has been the catchphrase for the five architects featured in this book, who all built houses for themselves and for clients in New Canaan, Connecticut. Other architects, well known (Frank Lloyd Wright, for example) and not so well known, also contributed significant modern houses that elicited strong reactions from nearly everyone who saw them and are still astonishing today. An introductory essay by Jean Ely, "New Canaan Modern" (reprinted by permission of the New Canaan Historical Society), recounts the history of the area and how New Canaan came to be the locus of the modern movement's experimentation in materials, construction methods, space, and form. The book is done as a "house tour" in chronological order, with photographs and floor plans. 50 color, 50 black-and-white illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
New in Canaan.......2007-09-20
William Earls reveals an interesting fact in his introduction: that a small group of brilliant young architects uniquely designed houses for themselves and others in this conservative small town in the post-war years. The book details thirty-seven modern houses though it has to be said that nine were demolished. Each house starts on a spread with photos, floor plan and a brief description.
This should have been an interesting editorial concept but I thought it had all the signs of a quickie production not helped by a rather bland design. The distribution of pages to each house varies quite a lot (most likely depending on what images were available). Philip Johnson's Glass House estate gets sixteen pages, Frank Lloyd Wright's Rayford House gets six pages but Marcel Breuer's demolished Mills house gets a spread with one photo. The book's title refers to the Harvard Five and they have the most houses but twelve architects are actually featured.
Many of these houses are standing and occupied but there is no contemporary reference to them. The author rightly says that private homes are not open to the public but surely it would have been worthwhile to contact the owners and ask them what they thought of the house and were there any technical problems in living in a 'modern' house that is now some decades old. Some owners would probably have agreed to allow a photo of their house so the reader can see its contemporary look.
Because the screen size is only 133dpi so many of the photos are grey and also much of the cropping does not bring out the best in these buildings. I wish more thought had gone into the design. Some photos have nearly unreadable text on them, captions are sometimes white out of a photo while others are placed (correctly) underneath the image.
Certainly this is an interesting idea for a book but I don't think it really comes off.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
Black and white interior and exterior photos abound........2006-10-15
New Canaan was a household name according to a 1953 issue of House and Garden magazine: it referred to five architects who designed houses for themselves and their clients in New Canaan, Connecticut. An introductory essay provides the history, recounting how the town became the figurehead of a new modern movement in housing experimentation: chapters which follow analyze the structures and works of Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Philip Johnson and Eliot Noyes. Black and white interior and exterior photos abound.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
The only comprehensive guide to the architecture of Philip Johnson-one of the most significant architects of the 20th century-with exquisite photographs and a foreword by the architect himself. Philip Johnson's imprint is indelibly stamped on cities across vAmerica. From New York's AT&T (now Sony) Building to his famous Glass House in Connecticut, Johnson's innovative designs and widespead influence have made him the undisputed dean of 20th-century architecture. With a foreword by Johnson himself, an essay by his biographer Hilary Lewis, and over 400 color photographs accompanied by detailed building descriptions, this is the book on Philip Johnson's architecture. The photographs were taken by Richard Payne, one of Johnson's personal photographers, who set out to document all extant buildings designed by this celebrated visionary. Johnson has produced a life's work full of surprises and groundbreaking ideas that have shaped the way we live, work, and play.
Customer Reviews:
Philip Johnson, Good and Bad- It's All Here.......2006-01-04
Philip Johnson, the most famous, influential and important architect of Post-War America gets here what he deserves: a monumental opus, gorgeously designed and filled with magnificent color photographs that surveys each and every one of the extant buildings designed by the "dean" of American architecture. From the Glass House (1949) to Trump Place (2001), this book works as a virtual catalogue raisonne of the work of Philip Johnson, reassessing a career that saw powerful masterpieces and dull, uninspired services to real estate tycoons but never went unnoticed.
The texts are simple and short, the emphasis being on the newly-commissioned photographs. Although an act of love sanctioned by Johnson himself (who chose the ruined World Fair Building for the cover), the book is not adulatory- Johnson's critics' sharp words on certain polemic buildings are included here.
As the publisher states in the flapcover, "This is *the* book on Philip Johnson's architecture".
PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL.......2005-04-09
On the other hand, Philip Johnson was an active fascist sympathizer and active propagandist for the Nazi government, who had tried to implement fascism in USA for at least 8 years between 1932 and 1940. Details of this past are described in "WE CANNOT NOT KNOW HISTORY:" PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL by KAZYS VARNELIS in Journal of Architectural Education, November 1994 published also on the Internet, and also discussed at http://arch.designcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?t=3709.
Amazon.com
At first glance, Judith Dupré's Skyscrapers might appear to be just another coffee-table prop. Yes, the fact that it measures a good foot and a half might keep it off the average shelf, but its unusual size is not just a gimmick. This book does full-scale justice to the beautiful black-and-white photographs of some of the world's most famous skyscrapers.
Organized chronologically, this is not a comprehensive guide but a selective survey: 50 of the most "significant" skyscrapers of the last century. From the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., to the Kuningan Persada Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia, Skyscrapers is a fact lover's dream. Vital statistics on each building include location, height, materials, primary architect, date of completion, and place in architectural history. The careful interaction of text and image brings the unique story of each building--and builder--to life.
But in both Skyscrapers and her follow-up book, Bridges, Dupré moves past the structures themselves to examine the ideals and dreams of the society that created them. Why build up? Who initiated the race to be first? The economic, cultural, and political role of buildings in everyday life is easy to overlook. Skyscrapers is a book that sticks out way past the knees and says, "Hey, look again." --Sara Nickerson
Book Description
From the ancient Lighthouse at Alexandria to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, from the Empire State Building to the soon-to-be-completed 450-meter Petronas Towers in Malaysia, a comprehensive history of humankind's continuing urge to build ever higher. Fascinating and entertaining text and magnificent, towering, full-page photographs of 50 of the world's most innovative, stunning, and lofty skyscrapers. Facts at a glance for each building, with visual comparisons of relative heights. Features informative spreads on the technical developments of elevators, steel, glass, and other building materials, the growth of cities, and towers around the world. Unique 7.5" x 18" format. Printed on high-quality coated stock with nearly 200 black-and-white photos.
Customer Reviews:
Loving Philip Johnson.......2005-08-21
First, the good stuff: the book's photography, though a little washed-out, is stunning. It was a wonderful inspiration to make a "tall, narrow" book of pictures of skyscrapers.
Then there's the text. We learn way, way too little about construction technique, advances in technology, and the men and women who backed and financed these buildings.
And we learn way, way too much about what a godlike figure Philip Johnson is. He was interviewed for an introduction for the book, and many Johnson or Johnson-clone buildings are found here. But sharp contrast, way too little treatment is given to the great skyscrapers of the pre-Modernist and Modernist eras.
The book is a great premise and a broken promise; its coverage is fatally flawed by a lack of balance in viewpoint.
Skyscrapers!.......2004-12-07
I've always been a great fan of skyscrapers. Eventually I started my own website and joined a few forums where other skyscraper lovers meet. My dad bought me this book and I love it. You can tell just by looking at my near destroyed copy of it. :D. It sits near my chair covered in coffee stains and filthy for how much I've read it!
One thing did get me. I'm from Melbourne Australia and the writer takes a bit of a shot at Melbournes Rialto Towers. I was annoyed at first, I love our tallest skyscraper, but then I realised Judith Dupre was right. Rialto could have been built anywhere. I was just biased towards my home tower.
So yeah, great book. Opened my eyes alot to the buildings I see every day and my perception of them
Interesting material, though a bit too poetic at times..........2004-04-07
My wife was in Chicago recently for a quilt show, and she picked up a book for me while she was there. It's called Skyscrapers by Judith Dupre, and it's an interesting coffee table book.
To start with, the size of the book is unique. To emphasize the "tallness" of the subject matter, the book measures 18 inches by 8 inches. It definitely doesn't fit on a bookshelf too well. Each two page combination in the book examines one of the world's tallest or most unique skyscrapers. The photography is well done, and the description and history of the buildings is often interesting. If you're an architect or someone who appreciates the art of structures, you'll think this book is wonderful. The only fault I can find with it (and it's more me than the book) is that the author tends to wax lyrical about artistic details and concepts that sometimes go a bit overboard. I guess I'm not "in touch" with my inner self... I found myself thinking "It's a building! Get over it!" more than once.
A Tall Book For Tall Buildings!.......2004-03-15
(The following review is dedicated to the brave men and women who lost their lives on 9/11/01.)
At first glance, the aptly titled "Skyscapers" pictorial has the guise of a tall building. With an impeccable presentation, the book faithfully maintains the original context of each building represented with beautiful black & white photos. It gives the reader a nuts-and-bolts perspective: Judith Dupre, et al, along with the enigmatic architect, Philip Johnson, the unparalled book takes the reader on an incredible journey. From the pioneering Reliance Building in Chicago to the defunct World Trade Center in New York City, from the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco to the Ulm Cathedral in Germany--it never ceases to amaze me, the enormous contributions these towering marvels have made in our behalf. They're magnificent places where people gather to work and make an honest living. And, they're magnificent places where people gather to worship and reflect upon life's mere existance. All things considered, this book will inspire any aspiring architect to reach for the sky. At home, it proudly sits atop my desk. If you're an architectural buff, this is the book for you.
A book for everyone.......2001-09-25
I have the 1996 hardcover edition of this book and do not know what revisions have been made to this latest addition, however I imagine the text and content will be very similar.
I have found this book to be an excellent source of information on skyscapers in general and the buildings featured in particular.
It has a very easy to read format, witch follows the developement of the skyscraper, with two pages at a time dedicated to one building. This makes it ideal for flicking through and just reading here and there at what ever catches your eye. There are also small gerneral interest and overviews pages troughout the book that help to explain the developement of these buildings.
Not a lot of technical details also make this an easy read and ideal for younger readers.
This is one of the best books I have seen on the subject and I have no reservations recomending this book to anyone even remotely interested in these large buildings.
Book Description
The Dumbarton Oaks Research and Study Center in Washington, D.C., administered by Harvard University, is a famed museum and study center specializing in pre-Columbian art, Byzantine studies, and garden history and design. Long known for its museum pavilion, designed by the noted architect Philip Johnson, Dumbarton Oaks sits within one of the most spectacular gardens in America.
The founders of Dumbarton Oaks, Mildred and Robert W. Bliss, were important American philanthropists; the garden was developed between 1920 and 1965 by Mildred Bliss. She worked with several designers, the most significant of whom was the American landscape designer Beatrix Farrand. The romantic but disciplined design, a series of small individual terraces and winding walkways, reflects the character of Mildred Bliss: her place in society, her travels, and her spiritual ideals. Cool formality, joyful opulence, and feelings of intimacy, reticence, and artlessness are all present in the garden. Private, public, and utilitarian areas coexist within the integrated whole.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting period piece.......2003-01-27
The most interesting aspect of the new edition is the recent forward by Philip Johnson (1995). In it he humorously describes his relationship with "The International Style," and how dated the book now appears. He also notes that it was Alfred Barr who introduced Hitchcock and him to this new world of architecture. It was Barr who had written extensively on the subject and dubbed it an "International Style."
Not surprisingly, nearly all the buildings included in this catalog for the 1932 MoMA exhibit date from 1927. This was a pivotal year in the Modern Movement. Le Corbusier's "Toward a New Architecture" first appeared in English. The new improved Bauhaus opened its doors in Dessau, in Gropius' newly constructed complex. The International Competition for the League of Nations building was held with Le Corbusier losing out on a technicality. A building exhibition, laid out by Mies van der Rohe, was sponsored by the Deutscher Werkbund in Stuttgart. Modern Architecture had come of age.
The selections are interesting for their range of architects but have several notable omissions. Among them Rudolf Schindler, who dismissed the idea of an "International Style," in a letter to Johnson. Modern architects then and now hate the idea of a "style," believing their works to be based on a set of constructive and compositional principles which transcend the notion of style.
Nevertheless, the name stuck. Hitchcock and Johnson are widely credited for bringing the International Style to America, even though some early works by Neutra, Hood, Howe and Lescaze were included in the exhibition. Most importantly, Johnson lured Mies to America, where he would achieve his most lofty aspirations. The book makes for an interesting read but has long been superceded by more insightful and penetrating books on the subject.
going back to where it all started.......2000-01-08
This book is a living proof that architecture is an evolving being. It never stays stagnant. What is deemed to be modern then has now become a foundation for new styles & new materials to be developed to serve the functions & purposes of the occupants. Whilst the book defined the 3 principles that formed the backbone of the International Style, it's doing so as a mean of helping people to understand the 'style'better. Architects know better that there aren't any form of '-ism' but just good architecture when all the criterions of their clients are met. Half of the book is devoted to photos of buildings applying the so-called International Style but after you've seen one, you've seen it all. They all look distinctively indifferent to one another.
Book Description
The first book devoted to Philip Johnson's Glass House and his other innovative residential architecture.
For almost three-quarters of a century, as a critic and curator beginning in 1930s, and as a practicing architect since the 1940s, Philip Johnson has been at the center of modern architecture's development. His celebrated Glass House, built in 1949 in New Canaan, Connecticut--a crystallization of Johnson's commitment to the high modernism of his mentor Mies van der Rohe--is perhaps the single most famous house of the twentieth century. Until now, however, that house has not been looked at in the context of Johnson's many other house projects. This book, the first to comprehensively survey Johnson's residential work, not only brings to light a largely neglected side of Johnson's achievement, but freshly illuminates his entire career.
By examining all of Johnson's houses, authors Stover Jenkins and David Mohney, both architects, help us understand the Glass House as an expression of Johnson's developing thought. Focusing first on Johnson's student work at Harvard and his early commissions, they show how the Glass House reflects Johnson's concentrated study not only of pioneering modern architects including Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, but of masters of previous centuries such as Claude-Nicolas Ledoux and Karl Friedrich Schinkel. They detail the three-year design process of the Glass House, and then show how Johnson moved beyond the influence of Mies to create a remarkably diverse body of work--one that is nevertheless unified by characteristic themes, like Johnson's inventive development of the Miesian court-house scheme, and his articulation of space by the use of connected pavilions.
Johnson's clients have always included powerful patrons of art and architecture. Presented in this book are his jewel-like townhouse for Blanchette Rockefeller and the Houston home of John and Dominique de Menil, with its enclosed court; projects for collector Joseph Hirshhorn; and the spectacular vacation house at Cap BŽnat for the Biossonnas family. Recent projects include a sprawling desert compound in Israel and a village-like vacation residence in the Caribbean. But from the beginning, when Johnson submitted a house he built for himself in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as his graduate thesis, he has been his own most effective client. The book concludes with a look at the ten built and seven unbuilt projects he has designed over the years for the New Canaan estate. As an afterword, the book includes a penetrating essay by architectural historian Neil Levine, who argues that we must now recognize Johnson's publication of the Glass House, in a 1950 article, as a turning point in the recognition of modernism as a historical movement.
Supporting a critical account of approximately thirty built and forty unbuilt projects, the book includes numerous plans and drawings, many never before published, and historical photographs. New color photographs by Steven Brooke capture the ways Johnson has used light, space, and landscape to create some of modernism's most appealing houses. Essential reading for architects and students, this book is also a vital resource for the study of one of modern architecture's most influential figures.
Other Details:
300 illustrations, 150 in full color. 288 pages. 10 x 11" trim size. Published in 2001.
Customer Reviews:
PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL.......2005-04-09
On the other hand, Philip Johnson was an active fascist sympathizer and active propagandist for the Nazi government, who had tried to implement fascism in USA for at least 8 years between 1932 and 1940. Details of this past are described in "WE CANNOT NOT KNOW HISTORY:" PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL by KAZYS VARNELIS in Journal of Architectural Education, November 1994 published also on the Internet, and also discussed at http://arch.designcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?t=3709.
Average customer rating:
- archINFOLDing Architectural Magazine
- persian review
- Good overview
|
Deconstructivist Architecture: The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Philip Johnson
Manufacturer: Little Brown and Company
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Binding: Paperback
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The Architecture of Deconstruction: Derrida's Haunt
ASIN: 087070298X |
Customer Reviews:
archINFOLDing Architectural Magazine.......2003-12-03
Architectural for all, Master site, Building Projects,education,
find an architect,events,Architectural types,folding,deconstruction,Post Modern, Modern, Classic,
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persian review.......2003-11-14
i have written a persian review based on the codes given in this book in my blog: http://www.yousefi.persianblog.com/
Good overview.......2002-05-09
Understanding deconstructivist architecture can be daunting at first. Without delving into Jacques Derrida's complicated theories on Deconstructivism, this book offers a good overview from Russian Constructivism to Peter Eisenman's and Phillip Johnson's 1988 MoMA exhit - Deconstructivist Architecture.
The only thing lacking is an update reflecting the current use of Deconstructivist architecture. Has the perception of what conotates Deconstructivist changed in the last decade? Is it now more of an aesthetic reference than a theoretical? A follow-up with the '88 exhibit participants and a more current perspective on the practice is left to be desired.
Amazon.com
Philip Johnson is one of the most influential architects of the 20th century, not so much because of his chameleon-like design approach, but because of his intelligence and articulateness. As the Museum of Modern Art's founding architecture curator in the early 1930s, he helped establish modernism in this country, and as the architect of New York's AT&T building--the notorious "Chippendale skyscraper"--he gave postmodernism commercial viability on a large scale during the 1980s.
In between, he built his famous glass house in 1949--the first in America--and designed several of Houston's best office towers, including Pennzoil Place, in the 1970s. Witty, wealthy, and well-connected, he was also the most powerful figure in the profession's cultural politics--a colleague once dubbed Johnson "the Godfather of architecture."
When this book was first published, Johnson was still practicing at age 88, and his intellect was undimmed. The text is an extended interview conducted by the authors, rather than the subject's thoughts written out for the ages. It's a good read, for Johnson is candid, unpretentious, astute, and entertaining in his stories about clients and how the projects unfolded. Think of this as oral history dispensed by a great raconteur who was at the center of the architectural universe for two-thirds of a century. Physically, this 200-page book is large-format and well laid out. The photos are numerous and first-rate, but oddly the plans are usually too big, and thus not as sharp as expected. --John Pastier
Customer Reviews:
PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL.......2005-04-09
On the other hand, Philip Johnson was an active fascist sympathizer and active propagandist for the Nazi government, who had tried to implement fascism in USA for at least 8 years between 1932 and 1940. Details of this past are described in "WE CANNOT NOT KNOW HISTORY:" PHILIP JOHNSON'S POLITICS AND CYNICAL SURVIVAL by KAZYS VARNELIS in Journal of Architectural Education, November 1994 published also on the Internet, and also discussed at http://arch.designcommunity.com/viewtopic.php?t=3709.
Philip Johnson as an architect and explorer.......2000-04-22
The time of the architecture in the last century is a live time for the "architecture eminence" Philip Johnson. In his book you get closer look of his changing architecture from introducing the International Style to America in the early thirties to Post-Modernisms. A great book about a great man.
Good Book.......2000-04-07
Shows his view over the architecture and over his own work. Very well ilustraded.
Book Description
In this critically acclaimed biography, Franz Schulze probes the private and professional life of one of the most famous architects and architectural critics of the twentieth century.
The only child of a wealthy Midwestern family, Philip Johnson was a millionaire by the time he graduated from Harvard, and in 1932 he helped stage the historic International Style exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. A patron of the arts and a political activists who flirted with the politics of Hitler, Huey Long, and Father Coughlin, he went on to create controversial and historical structures such as the Glass House, the Roofless Church, the AT & T Building, the Crystal Cathedral, and many more. Johnson's personal charms paired with his manipulative ploys—like his "borrowing" of designs—shine through in this biography.
Drawing on Johnson's correspondence, personal photographs, and speeches, and on interviews with his friends and contemporaries, Schulze fills the biography with fascinating information on the architect's family, travels, friends and lovers, and his many buildings and spaces themselves.
Franz Schulze is a professor of art at Lake Forest College. He is the author of Fantastic Images: Chicago Art since 1945, One Hundred Years of Chicago Architecture, and Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography.
Customer Reviews:
Philip Johnson : Life and Work - a good bio about a genius.......1999-08-18
A great book about my favorite architect. Johnson's buildings are truly an example of his passion and distinct style. Franz Schulze went to great lengths to describe his career from working w/ Mies ,his partnership w/ John Burgee to practicing alone at 90+ years old. The book discusses his up & down life that impacted his work.
A fascinating tale of a great passionate man.......1999-06-11
The most compelling attribute of Schulze's recount of the life thus far of Philip Johnson is the story of how a young Johnson followed his passions and became a self-eduated person of enlightenment - or at least learned at 20-something that enlightenment is a pursuit, not a destination. Whether you like architecture or not, this book will inspire introspection of your own pursuit for passionate endeavors.
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