Philip Johnson died

On Tuesday, January 25, 2005, a man who did more for modern architecture than anyone else passed away in his Glass House in New Canaan. The news of his passing was announced by David Whitney, his longtime partner with whom Johnson lived for nearly half a century. Philip Johnson, who since 1989 had been focused only on designing for himself and occasional consultations for John Burgee Architects, decided last autumn to completely end his professional career. Johnson certainly did not view architecture as a source of daily livelihood, but rather as a calling. Throughout his long career, he always kept at the forefront of architecture, setting its direction. Many called him a chameleon—sometimes even worse. However, a few following facts cannot be disputed. He introduced the world to European modernism and popularized its representatives; he is responsible for the first postmodern skyscraper, as well as having organized an exhibition of deconstructivist architects in New York. He was the first to receive the Pritzker Prize, now regarded as the highest honor for a living architect.
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was born on July 8, 1906, in Cleveland. He studied philology and philosophy at Harvard University (1930) but did not become a classical philologist. A rekindled interest in architecture and travels in Europe (1929-30), along with meetings with European architects (Oud, Mendelsohn, Gropius, Mies), changed the course of his life. There is something very sympathetic about this life change. For: "How does one become an architect, how does one embark on the path of expertise in this or that field?" Johnson was fascinated by the revolutionary new architecture in Europe. He became the first director of the architectural department at the Museum of Modern Art (1932 - 1934) in New York. In this institution, he organized the 1932 exhibition Modern Architecture: International Exhibition and, together with Henry-Russell Hitchcock, published the now-famous catalog "The International Style: Architecture since 1922." The authors here first used the programmatic term "international style." In agreement with them, Alfred H. Barr in the foreword opposed the prevailing mentality of American architects of tall buildings, who with "cynical humor" referred to ornaments on facades as functional (if they are functional, then only in the American style of "to each - their own - functionalism"). All three—Johnson, Hitchcock, Barr jr.—declared: a new architecture, "international style," had emerged in Europe, which does not conform to the tastes of clients but implements a radically new idea of architecture—modernism—that transcends boundaries of regions and countries. Thus, Johnson was first an erudite publicist, historian, and critic in the field of architecture and only later, from 1940 to 43, did he pursue further study, this time in the field of architecture once again at Harvard. His teachers were those whom he met as an American student, a publicist, and about whom he later wrote as a theorist of architecture and to whom he gained fame in the USA: Gropius, especially Marcel Breuer, but his admired mentor, friend, and collaborator became Mies van der Rohe (who left Germany at Johnson's invitation in 1937). Philip Johnson had his own architectural studio in Cambridge (Massachusetts) from 1942 to 1945, and from 1946 to 1954, he again became the director of the architecture department at the Museum of Modern Art. Since 1946, he worked as an architect in New York, where he collaborated with Richard Foster (especially in the 60s, including the Kline Biology Tower at Yale University, New Haven), John Burgee (I. D. S. Center from 1968 to 1972, AT & T Building from 1979 to 84, PPG Building in Pittsburgh from 1979 to 1985, and others), with Alan Ritchie and David Fiore.