Philip Johnson: Life and Work

By Franz Schulze

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226740587
• ISBN13: 9780226740584
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 479 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Profile of an Important (Banal?) Figure

This is a lucid, balanced, and candid account of a late prominent architect. It merits high marks despite a blemished, controversial subject. To some Philip Johnson is an egocentric, vacuous figure (many of his piers at the HGSD despised him). Others consider him (like Andy Warhol) an iconic, original force vital to the 20C. Probably both are right, but for different reasons (history may declare much of the 20C worthy only of demolition). That said, Schulze faithfully relates Philip Johnson as a celebrated figure (loved and hated), as well as a history difficult for acolytes to ignore (be it privileged origins, leverage as a museum curator/publicist, derivative and eclectic work, banal and self-indulgent behavior). Mr. Johnson's friendly service as guest of the Third Reich during the invasion of Poland, for example, may interest readers (William Shirer's `Berlin Diary' 19-20 Sept 1939 entry at Zoppot near Danzig: "Dr. Böhmer, press chief of the Propaganda Ministry in charge of this trip, insisted that I share a double room here with Philip Johnson, an American fascist who says he represents Father Coughlin's `Social Justice.' None of us can stand this fellow and suspect he is spying on us for the Nazis"). I rate this work as a fair, well-written resource on the subject. I have no affection for Philip Johnson (indeed, I spent years walking by his iconic Ash Street `fence' and value it only for being near HH Richardson's masterful Stoughton House on Brattle Street). Also recommended: Schulze's `Mies van der Rohe' (if the reader wants an indisputably original figure who fled - rather than embraced - the Nazis).

Philip Johnson : Life and Work - a good bio about a genius

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

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.