View source for Philip Johnson

{{short description|American architect (1906–2005)}}
{{other people|similarly|Phillip Johnson (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Philip Johnson
| image = Philip Johnson.2002.FILARDO.jpg
| caption = Johnson in 2002
| birth_name = Philip Cortelyou Johnson
| birth_date = {{birth date|1906|7|8}}
| birth_place = [[Cleveland]], Ohio, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2005|1|25|1906|7|8}}
| death_place = [[New Canaan, Connecticut]], U.S.
| alma_mater = [[Harvard Graduate School of Design]]
| awards = [[Pritzker Prize]] (1979)<br />[[AIA Gold Medal]] (1978)
| significant_buildings = [[Glass House]], [[Seagram Building]]'s 2 restaurants, [[550 Madison Avenue]], [[IDS Tower]], [[PPG Place]], [[Crystal Cathedral]]
| practice = [[Johnson/Burgee Architects]] (established 1967)
| significant_projects = 
}}

'''Philip Cortelyou Johnson''' (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect who designed [[Modern architecture|modern]] and [[postmodern architecture]]. Among his best-known designs are his modernist [[Glass House]] in [[New Canaan, Connecticut]]; the postmodern [[550 Madison Avenue]] in New York City, designed for AT&T; [[190 South LaSalle Street|190 South La Salle Street]] in [[Chicago]]; [[IDS Tower]] in downtown [[Minneapolis]]; the Sculpture Garden of New York City's [[Museum of Modern Art]]; and the Pre-Columbian Pavilion at [[Dumbarton Oaks]]. His January 2005 obituary in ''[[The New York Times]]'' described his works as being "widely considered among the architectural masterpieces of the 20th century".<ref name=NYT-obit/>

In 1930, Johnson became the first director of the architecture department of the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York. There he arranged for visits by [[Walter Gropius]] and [[Le Corbusier]] and negotiated the first American commission for [[Mies van der Rohe]], after he fled [[Nazi Germany]]. In 1932, he organized with [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]] the first exhibition dedicated to modern architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, which gave name to the subsequent movement known as [[International Style]]. In 1934, Johnson resigned his position at the museum.

During the 1930s, Johnson became an ardent admirer of [[Adolf Hitler]], openly praised the [[Nazi Party]], and espoused [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] views.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Saval |first=Nikil |date=December 12, 2018 |title=Philip Johnson, the Man Who Made Architecture Amoral |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/philip-johnson-the-man-who-made-architecture-amoral |access-date=April 23, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X |quote=Johnson was an anti-Semite and a strong proponent of ruling-class power. (...) Indeed, it is difficult to think of an American as successful as Johnson who indulged a love for Fascism as ardently and as openly. (...) Johnson would later describe Hitler as “a spellbinder”; in 1964, well after he had been forced to abjure his Nazi past, he insisted in letters in the 1930s that Hitler was “better than Roosevelt.”}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Budds |first=Diana |date=December 1, 2020 |title=Artists to MoMA: Take Down Philip Johnson's Name |url=https://www.curbed.com/2020/12/philip-johnson-name-removal-moma-fascism.html |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Curbed |language=en |quote=Johnson described attending Nazi rallies in Germany as “exhilarating” and attempted to found a fascist political party in the United States.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bahr |first=Sarah |date=December 3, 2020 |title=Artists Ask MoMA to Remove Philip Johnson's Name, Citing Racist Views |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/arts/design/philip-johnson-moma.html |access-date=April 23, 2024 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=He also championed racist and white supremacist viewpoints in his younger years. Johnson’s Nazi sympathies, for example, have been well documented (...)}}</ref> He wrote for ''[[Social Justice (periodical)|Social Justice]]'' and ''Examiner'', where he published an admiring review of Hitler's ''[[Mein Kampf]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lamster |first=Mark |date=October 31, 2018 |title=Was Architect Philip Johnson a Nazi Spy? |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/philip-johnson-the-man-in-the-glass-house-mark-lamster-excerpt.html |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=New York Magazine |language=en}}</ref> In 1939, as a correspondent for ''Social Justice'', he witnessed Hitler's [[invasion of Poland]], which he later described as "a stirring spectacle".<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 3, 2020 |title=Artists Are Calling on MoMA to Remove Philip Johnson's Name |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/artists-are-calling-on-moma-to-remove-philip-johnsons-name |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Architectural Digest |language=en-US}}</ref> In 1941, after the U.S. entered the war, Johnson abruptly renounced his earlier views, quit journalism, and organized an anti-Fascist league at [[Harvard Graduate School of Design|Harvard Design School]]. He was investigated by the [[FBI]], and was eventually cleared for military service.<ref name=NYT-obit/> He evaded indictment and jail by cooperating with the prosecution, though, according to some critics, it may have been because of his social connections; no evidence of this was ever produced.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=April 4, 2016 |title=Famed Architect Philip Johnson's Hidden Nazi Past |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman |access-date=April 23, 2024 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US |quote=How did Johnson, virtually alone among his Fascist associates, manage to avoid indictment? The answer may lie in the influence of powerful friends. One man in particular could well have been influential: (...) Nelson Rockefeller, who knew Johnson well from his New York days.}}</ref> Years later he would refer to these activities as "the stupidest thing I ever did{{spaces}}[which] I never can atone for".

In 1978, he was awarded an [[American Institute of Architects]] [[AIA Gold Medal|Gold Medal]]. In 1979, he was the first recipient of the [[Pritzker Prize|Pritzker Architecture Prize]].<ref name="Goldberger, Paul 1979">Goldberger, Paul (May 23, 1979). "Philip Johnson Awarded $100.000 Pritzker Prize." Retrieved August 1, 2011.</ref> Today his skyscrapers are prominent features in the skylines of New York, Houston, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Madrid, and other cities.

==Early life and education==
[[File:Philip Johnson3.jpg|thumb|Johnson in 1933]]
Johnson was born in [[Cleveland]], Ohio, on July 8, 1906, the son of a lawyer, Homer Hosea Johnson (1862–1960), and the former Louisa Osborn Pope (1869–1957), a niece of [[Alfred Atmore Pope]] and a first cousin of [[Theodate Pope Riddle]]. He had an older sister, Jeannette, and a younger sister, Theodate. He was descended from the Jansen family of [[New Amsterdam]]. His ancestors include the [[Huguenots|Huguenot]] [[Jacques Cortelyou]], who laid out the first town plan of New Amsterdam for [[Peter Stuyvesant]]. He grew up in [[New London, Ohio]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Forms Under Light |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1977/05/23/forms-under-light |access-date=April 7, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=May 15, 1977}}</ref> He had a [[Stuttering|stutter]] and was diagnosed with [[cyclothymia]].<ref name=":3">{{cite book |last1=Maddow |first1=Rachel |title=Prequel: an American fight against fascism |date=2023 |publisher=Crown |location=New York |isbn=978-0-593-44451-1 |pages=2–56 |edition=First}}</ref> He attended the [[Hackley School]] in [[Tarrytown, New York]], then studied as an undergraduate at [[Harvard University]], where he focused on learning Greek, [[philology]], history and philosophy, particularly the work of the Pre-Socratic philosophers. He graduated in 1930.

==Career==
After graduation,<ref name=":3" /> Johnson made a series of trips to Europe, including Germany, where his family had a summer house. He visited the landmarks of classical and Gothic architecture, and joined [[Henry-Russell Hitchcock]], a prominent architectural historian, who was introducing Americans to the work of [[Le Corbusier]], [[Walter Gropius]], and other modernists. In 1928, he met German architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], who was at the time designing the [[Barcelona Pavilion|German Pavilion]] for the [[1929 Barcelona International Exposition]]. The meeting formed the basis for a lifelong relationship of both collaboration and competition.<ref name=NYT-obit>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/arts/design/philip-johnson-architectures-restless-intellect-dies-at-98.html |title=Obituary: Philip Johnson, Architecture's Restless Intellect, dies at 98 |first=Paul |last=Goldberger |date=January 27, 2005 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=May 15, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Guardian obituary" />

Johnson had a substantial fortune, largely due to his father's successful investment in the [[Alcoa|Aluminum Company of America]].<ref name="Mashiach">{{Cite news |last=Mashiach |first=Itay |date=June 14, 2024 |title=The Nazi who built Israel a nuclear reactor |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-14/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/the-nazi-who-built-israel-a-nuclear-reactor/00000190-1454-df06-adb8-74d63c4b0000}}</ref> With this fortune, in 1930 he financed the new architecture department of the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in New York, and in 1932 he was named its curator. As curator he arranged for American visits by Gropius and Le Corbusier, and negotiated the first American commission for Mies van der Rohe. In 1932, working with Hitchcock and [[Alfred H. Barr, Jr.]], he organized the first exhibition on Modern architecture at the Museum of Modern Art.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/philip-johnson-the-man-who-made-architecture-amoral|title=Philip Johnson, the Man Who Made Architecture Amoral|first=Nikil|last=Saval|date=December 12, 2018|access-date=December 12, 2018|website=Newyorker.com}}</ref> The show and their simultaneously published book ''[[International Style (architecture)|International Style: Modern Architecture Since 1922]]'', published in 1932, played a seminal role in introducing [[modern architecture]] to the American public.{{sfn|Watkin|1986|page=573}}

When the rise of the Nazis in Germany forced the modernists [[Marcel Breuer]] and [[Mies van der Rohe]] to leave Germany, Johnson helped arrange for them to work in the United States.{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|page=314}} He created a small organization called the Gray Shirts, styled after the Nazi Brownshirts.<ref name=":3" />

{{quote box |text=The amount of power he yearned for was inversely proportional to the amount he actually attained. In politics, he proved to be a trifler, the dilettante he earlier feared himself to be, a model of futility who sought to find a messiah or to pursue messianic ends but whose most lasting following turned out to be the agents of the FBI, who themselves finally grew bored with him. In short, he was never much of a political threat to anyone, still less an effective doer of either political good or political evil. |author=Franz Schulze |source=''Philip Johnson: Life and Work'' (1994), p.144<ref name=Schulze-94 /> |align=right |width=25em}}

===Politics and journalism===
In December 1934, Johnson abruptly left the Museum of Modern Art and began pursuing a career in journalism and politics. He first became a supporter of [[Huey Long]], the populist governor of Louisiana. He tried and failed to recruit Long to join the National Party, which he founded.<ref name=":3" /> Johnson unsuccessfully ran for representative of New London in the Connecticut state legislature.<ref name=":3" /> After Long was assassinated in 1935, Johnson became a correspondent for ''[[Social Justice (periodical)|Social Justice]]'', the newspaper of the radical-populist and anti-Semitic Father [[Charles Coughlin]]. Johnson traveled to Germany and Poland as a correspondent, where he wrote admiringly about the Nazis.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name="Varnelis" /><ref name=":2" />

In ''Social Justice'', Johnson expressed, as ''[[The New York Times]]'' later reported, "more than passing admiration for Hitler".<ref name=NYT-obit /> In the summer of 1932 Johnson attended one of the [[Nuremberg Rallies]] in Germany and saw Hitler for the first time. Years later he would describe the event to his biographer, Franz Schulze: "You simply could not fail to be caught up in the excitement of it, by the marching songs, by the crescendo and climax of the whole thing, as Hitler came on at last to harangue the crowd". He told of being thrilled at the sight of "all those blond boys in black leather" marching past the Führer.<ref name=Schulze-94>{{cite book |last=Schulze |first=Franz |title=Philip Johnson: Life and Work |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-226-74058-4 |url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3640523.html |access-date=May 15, 2018}}</ref>{{rp|89–90}} Sponsored by the German government, he traveled on a press tour which covered the invasion of Poland in 1939. Schulze dismissed these early political activities as inconsequential, concluding they merited "little more substantial attention than they have gained" and his politics "were driven as much by an unconquerable esthetic impulse as by fascist philosophy or playboy adventurism".<ref name=Schulze-94 />{{rp|144;146}}<ref>His involvement with fascism and the Nazi party was documented in Marc Wortman's 2016 book ''1941: Fighting the Shadow War''. It was excerpted by ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine.</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman|title=Famed Architect Philip Johnson's Hidden Nazi Past|first=Marc|last=Wortman|magazine=Vanity Fair|access-date=December 12, 2018}}</ref>

=== Architecture school and Army service ===
In 1941, at the age of 35, Johnson abandoned politics and journalism and enrolled in the [[Harvard Graduate School of Design]], where he studied with [[Marcel Breuer]] and [[Walter Gropius]], who had recently fled from Nazi Germany.<ref name=NYT-obit /> In 1941, Johnson designed and built his first building, a house at 9 Ash Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The house, strongly influenced by Mies van der Rohe, has a wall around the lot which merges with the structure.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/3/2/johnson-mystery-house/ |title=If Only We Could See It: Philip Johnson's Mystery House |author1=Cahill, Frank M. |author2=Harrington, Cleo M. |date=March 2, 2017 |newspaper=The Harvard Crimson |access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref> It was used by Johnson to host social events and was eventually submitted as his graduate thesis; he sold the house after the war, and it was purchased by Harvard in 2010<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.curbed.com/2015/8/20/9928560/21-first-drafts-philip-johnsons |title=21 First Drafts: Philip Johnson's 9 Ash Street House |author=Sisson, Patrick |date=August 20, 2015 |work=Curbed |access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref> and restored by 2016.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://home.planningoffice.harvard.edu/files/hppm/files/harvard_university_town_gown_report_2016_web_012317.pdf |page=15 |title=Harvard University Town Gown Report |date=2016 |publisher=Harvard Planning Office |access-date=May 17, 2018}}</ref>

In 1942, while still a student of the architecture school, Johnson tried to enlist with [[Naval Intelligence]], and then for a federal job, but was rejected both times. In 1943, after his graduation from Harvard, he was drafted to the Army and was sent to [[Fort Ritchie|Fort Ritchie, Maryland]], to interrogate German [[prisoners of war]].<ref name="Wortman 2016">{{Cite book |last=Wortman |first=Marc |title=1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-8021-2511-8 |edition=First |location=New York |oclc=922911666}}</ref> He was investigated by the FBI for his involvement with the German government, Coughlin and [[Lawrence Dennis]], an American fascist economist, and was cleared for continued military service.<ref name=ids>{{cite web |title=PHILIP JOHNSON |publisher=IDS Center |url=http://ids-center.com/?page_id=679 |access-date=January 29, 2015 |archive-date=July 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140709032903/http://www.ids-center.com/?page_id=679 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Wortman 2016" /> After the [[Great Sedition Trial|trial of Dennis and his collaborators]], Johnson was relieved of his interrogation duties and transferred to [[Fort Belvoir|Fort Belvoir, Virginia]],<ref>{{cite news|title=At Camp Humphreys, Va|newspaper=The Sunday Star, Washington, DC, pg 68|date=June 23, 1918|id=Newspapers.com}} https://www.newspapers.com/image/332637670</ref> where he spent the rest of his military service doing routine duties.<ref name="Wortman 2016" />

==Early Modernist period (1946–1960)==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Glasshouse-philip-johnson.jpg|The [[Glass House]] (1949)
File:Living.jpg|Interior of the [[Glass House]] (1949)
File:Farnsworth House by Mies Van Der Rohe - exterior-6.jpg|[[Farnsworth House]] by [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe|Mies]] (designed 1945–7) for comparison
File:Four Seasons Restaurant- The Brilliant Pool Room.JPG|The [[Four Seasons Restaurant]] of the [[Seagram Building]] in its original form (1956)
</gallery>

In 1946, after he completed his schooling and his military service, Johnson returned to the Museum of Modern Art as a curator and writer. At the same time, he began working to establish his architectural practice. He built a small house, influenced by the work of Mies, in [[Sagaponack, New York|Sagaponack]], [[Long Island]]. In 1947, he published the first [[monograph]] in English on the architecture of Mies.

In 1947, he curated the first exhibition of modern architecture of the Museum of Modern Art including a model of the glass [[Farnsworth House]] of Mies.<ref name=atf>Friedman, Alice T., [https://books.google.com/books?id=-WXuEAwKcSQC ''Women and the Making of the Modern House''], p 130, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press (2006), {{ISBN|978-0-300-11789-9}}, retrieved via Google Books on August 8, 2010</ref>

In 1949, he began building a new residence, the [[Glass House]] in [[New Canaan, Connecticut]], which was completed in 1949. It was clearly influenced by [[Farnsworth House]] of Mies, an influence which Johnson never denied, but looked quite different.{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|page=314}}

The Glass House is a 56-foot by 32-foot glass rectangle, sited at the edge of a crest on Johnson's estate overlooking a pond. The building's sides are glass and charcoal-painted steel; the floor, of brick, is not flush with the ground but sits 10&nbsp;inches above. The interior is an open space divided by low walnut cabinets; a brick cylinder contains the bathroom and is the only object to reach floor to ceiling. ''The New York Times'' described it in 2005 as "one of the 20th century's greatest residential structures. "Like all of Johnson's early work, it was inspired by Mies, but its pure symmetry, dark colors and closeness to the earth marked it as a personal statement; calm and ordered rather than sleek and brittle."<ref name=NYT-obit />Philip wrote that the burnt wooden homes he had seen in Poland "where nothing was left but the foundations and chimneys of brick," were a further source of inspiration.<ref name="Mashiach"/>

Johnson continued to add to the Glass House estate during each period of his career. He added a small pavilion with columns by the lake in 1963, an art gallery set into a hillside in 1965, a postmodern sculpture gallery with a glass roof in 1970; a castle-like library with a rounded tower in 1980; a concrete block tower dedicated to his friend [[Lincoln Kirstein]], the founder of the [[New York City Ballet]]; and a chain-link "ghost house" dedicated to [[Frank Gehry]].<ref name=NYT-obit />

After completing the Glass House, he completed two more houses in New Canaan in a style similar to the Glass House; the [[Richard and Geraldine Hodgson House|Hodgson House]] (1951) and the Wiley House (1953). In New York City, He designed two major modernist additions to the Museum of Modern Art; a new annex, and, to complement it, the [[Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden]] (1953){{Sfn|Taschen|2016|page=314}}

In 1954–56, he made the [[pro bono]] design for [[Congregation Kneses Tifereth Israel]], a synagogue for a [[conservative Judaism|conservative Jewish congregation]] in [[Port Chester, New York]]. It had a simple interior and a ceiling of curving plaster panels.{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|page=317}}
[[File:Soreq Nuclear Research Exterior.jpg|thumb|The Soreq Nuclear Research Center in [[Nahal Soreq]], Israel]]
In 1957, Johnson designed the [[Soreq Nuclear Research Center]] in [[Israel]] at the invitation of [[Shimon Peres]].<ref name="Mashiach"/>

Johnson joined Mies van der Rohe as the architect of record (Mies did not have a New York architectural license) for the 39-story [[Seagram Building]] (1956). Johnson was pivotal in steering the commission towards Mies by working with [[Phyllis Lambert]], the daughter of the CEO of [[Seagram]]. The commission resulted in the iconic bronze-and-glass tower on Park Avenue. The building was designed by Mies, and the interiors of the [[Four Seasons Restaurant|Four Seasons]] and Brasserie restaurants (later redesigned), as well as office furniture were designed by Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |title=Four Seasons & Brasserie Restaurants, Seagram Building, NYC |work=NYIT Architectural History |publisher=YouTube |date=May 4, 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqMmPJ6O2K0 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/HqMmPJ6O2K0| archive-date=November 18, 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=January 29, 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In December 1955, the state of New York denied an architect's license to Mies. He moved back to Chicago and put Johnson fully in charge of construction. Mies returned in late 1956 and finished the building.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mertins |first=Detlef |title=Mies |publisher=Phaidon Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0714839622 |oclc=872051711|page=341}}</ref>

== Late Modernism (1960–1980) ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:St. Anselm's Abbey DC 03.JPG|Monastery building at [[St. Anselm's Abbey]] in Washington, DC (1960)
File:Munson-Williams-Proctor_Arts_Institute,_Utica_NY.jpg|[[Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute]] in [[Utica, New York]] (1960)<ref>{{cite web |title=AD Classics: Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute / Philip Johnson |url=https://www.archdaily.com/492133/ad-classics-munson-williams-proctor-arts-institute-philip-johnson |website=ArchDaily |date=April 2014 |access-date=19 August 2021}}</ref>
File:Sheldon Gallery (Lincoln, NE) from NE 1.JPG|[[Sheldon Museum of Art]] at the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] (1963)
File:David H Koch Theater (48269670522).jpg|The [[David Koch Theater]] at [[Lincoln Center]] in New York City (completed 1964)
</gallery>
Throughout the 1960s, Johnson continued to create in the vocabulary of the modernist style, designing geometrical theatres, a monastery, art galleries and gardens. The [[Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute]] (1960) is a good example of his work in the period; it is supported by eight external ferro-concrete piers, or two on each side. The exterior structural members are clad in [[bronze]] and "black" Canadian [[granite]]. The windowless cube is set above the office areas, which recessed in a dry moat, giving a "floating" effect.<ref>Asad Syrkett, http://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/5335-a-golden-anniversary-for-a-philip-johnson-museum</ref> A model of the building was exhibited in the United States Pavilion at the [[Expo 58|Brussels' World's Fair of 1958]] as an example of the new trends in American architecture. It was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2010.

Another major project of the period was the Atrium of the [[David H. Koch Theater]] (formerly the New York State Theatre, the home of the [[New York City Ballet]], at [[Lincoln Center]] in New York.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:2017 Boston Public Library Johnson Building.jpg|The Johnson Building at [[Boston Public Library]], Boston, Massachusetts (1972) after its 2016 renovation
File:Pennzoil Place in Houston.JPG|[[Pennzoil Place]] in Houston, Texas (1970–1976)
File:Building5 houston.jpg|Pennzoil Place from above
File:The Paley Center for Media (48155560156).jpg|Paley Center for Media, New York (1991)
</gallery>

In 1967, Johnson entered a new phase of his career, founding a partnership with architect [[John Burgee]]. He began to design office building complexes for large corporations. The most prominent of these was [[Pennzoil Place]] (1970–76) in Houston, Texas. The two towers of Pennzoil Place have sloping roofs covering the top seven floors and are trapezoidal in form, planned to create two large triangual areas on the site, which are occupied with glass-covered lobbies designed like greenhouses. This idea was widely copied in skyscrapers in other cities.{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|pages=315-317}}

The new building of the [[Boston Public Library]] (1972), known as the Johnson building, adjoins the original Boston library built in the 19th century by the celebrated firm of [[McKim, Mead & White]]. Johnson harmonized his building with the original landmark by using similar proportions and the same pink Milford granite.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Fort Worth Water Gardens 2003.jpg|The [[Fort Worth Water Gardens]], in [[Fort Worth]], Texas (1974)
File:Fort Worth Water Garden.jpg|The [[Fort Worth Water Gardens]]
File:Dallas_Chapel_of_Thanksgiving_2008.jpg|The spiral chapel in [[Thanks-Giving Square]] in [[Dallas]],Texas (1977)
</gallery>
In the late 1970s, Johnson combined architecture and landscape architecture to create two imaginative civic gardens. The [[Fort Worth Water Gardens]], which opened in 1974, is an urban landscape where visitors experience water in distinct ways. The gardens cover 4.3-acres (1.7 hectares), and comprise three very different kinds of water features. First, a quiet meditation pool, surrounded with cypress trees and high walls, with a thin sheet of water cascading downward to the pool, making the sound of a rain shower. The second pool is an aerating pool with multiple illuminated spray fountains, beneath a grove of oak trees. The third fountain is the Active Pool, which challenges fit visitors to walk down {{convert|38|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} to the pool at the bottom, with water cascading all around them.<ref>"Fort Worth Water Gardens", on Site of the City of Fort Worth.</ref>

In 1977, Johnson completed a much quieter garden in Dallas, [[Thanks-Giving Square]]. It features a non-denominational chapel in a spiral form, a meditation garden and cascading fountains, tucked between buildings in the center of the city.

== Postmodern period (1980–1990) ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Crys-ext.jpg|The [[Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California)|Crystal Cathedral]] (finished 1980)
File:Crystal Cathedral 01-15Aug80.jpg|Interior of the Crystal Cathedral
File:CrystalCathedral.jpg|Interior of the Cathedral in 2004
</gallery>
In 1980, Johnson and Burgee completed a cathedral in a dramatic new style: the '''[[Christ Cathedral (Garden Grove, California)|Crystal Cathedral]]''' in Garden Grove, California, is a soaring glass [[megachurch]] originally built for the Reverend [[Robert H. Schuller]].<ref name=arch>{{cite news| title=Catholic Renovation of Crystal Cathedral to Begin| last=Rojas| first=Rick| date=November 26, 2013| url=https://www.latimes.com/local/la-xpm-2013-nov-26-la-me-1127-crystal-cathedral-20131127-story.html| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| access-date=May 15, 2014}}</ref> The interior can seat 2,248 persons. It takes the form of a four-pointed star, with free-standing balconies in three points and the chancel in the fourth. The cathedral is covered with more than 10,000 rectangular pieces of glass. The Glass panels are not bolted, but glued to the structure, with a silicon based glue, to give it greater ability to resist Southern California earthquakes.<ref>[https://www.archdaily.com/445618/ad-classics-the-crystal-cathedral-philip-johnson] Architectural Daily - Great Buildings</ref> Johnson and Burgee designed it to withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8.0.<ref name=GreatBuildings>{{cite web|title=Garden Grove Church|url=http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Garden_Grove_Church.html|website=GreatBuildings.com|access-date=April 1, 2015|date=1979}}</ref> The tower was added in 1990.

The cathedral quickly became a Southern California landmark, but its costs helped drive the church into debt. When the church declared bankruptcy in 2012, it was purchased by the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange]] and became the Roman Catholic cathedral for Orange County.

Working with John Burgee, Johnson did not confine himself to a single style and was comfortable mixing elements of modernism and postmodernism. For the [[Cleveland Play House]], he built a Romanesque brick structure. His skyscrapers in the 1980s were clad in granite and marble and usually had some feature borrowed from historic architecture. In New York he designed the [[Museum of Television and Radio]] (now the Paley Center for Media) (1991).

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Sony Building by David Shankbone crop.jpg|[[550 Madison Avenue]] (1982)
File:550 Madison Avenue July2015.JPG|Top of [[550 Madison Avenue]]
File:Sony Building by Matthew Bisanz.jpg|Window of [[550 Madison Avenue]]
File:AT&T(Sony)building-NY-1.jpg|Entrance of [[550 Madison Avenue]]
</gallery>
In 1982, working in collaboration with John Burgee, he finished one of his most famous buildings, '''[[550 Madison Avenue]]''', (first known as AT&T Building, then the Sony building before taking its present name). Built between 1978 and 1982, it is a skyscraper with an eight-story high arched entry and a split pediment at the top which resembles an enormous piece of 18th-century [[Chippendale furniture]]. It was not the first work of [[postmodern architecture]], as [[Robert Venturi]] and [[Frank Gehry]] had already built smaller scale postmodern buildings, and [[Michael Graves]] had completed the [[Portland Building]] (1980–82) in [[Portland, Oregon]], two years earlier. But the building's Manhattan location, size, and originality made it the most famous and recognizable example of [[postmodern architecture]].{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|pages=314–317}} It was designated a city landmark by the [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] in 2018.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Building4 houston.jpg|[[TC Energy Center]] (formerly Bank of America Center) in Houston, Texas (1983)
File:Bank of America Center Houston 1.jpg|The [[TC Energy Center]], Houston (1983)
File:Oneppgplace.jpg|[[PPG Place]], [[Pittsburgh]],  (1984)
</gallery>

Between 1979 and 1984, Johnson and Burgee built '''[[PPG Place]]''', the postmodern headquarters of the [[Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company]]. It is a complex of six buildings within three city blocks, covering five and a half acres. The centerpiece is the 40-story tower, One PPG Place, which has a crown of spires at the corners which suggest the [[neogothic]] tower of the [[Houses of Parliament]] in London.  During the 1980s, Johnson and Burgee completed a series of other notable postmodern landmarks. The '''[[TC Energy Center]]''' (formerly Republic Bank Center, later, Bank of America Center), in Houston (1983), was the first postmodern skyscraper in the Houston skyline. Fifty-six stories high, it has two setbacks creating what appear to be three different buildings, one against the other. The three triangular gables were inspired by Flemish Renaissance architecture.{{Sfn|Taschen|2016|pages=314–317}}  The interior and exterior are covered with rough-textured red granite, which also covers the surrounding sidewalks.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorentz |first1=Wayne |title=The Bank of America Center-Houston Architecture |url=https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/Building/523/The-Bank-of-America-Center.php |website=HoustonArchitecture.com |publisher=Draloc LLC |access-date=May 23, 2020}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:UH Architecture Building.jpg|[[Hines College of Architecture]] at the University of Houston (1985)
File:Lipstick Building (51923067068).jpg|The elliptical [[Lipstick Building]] in Manhattan, (1986)
File:AegonCtr2030.JPG|The concrete tower and cupola of [[400 West Market]] in Louisville, Kentucky (1993)
</gallery>

The new building for the '''[[Hines College of Architecture]]''' (1985) of the University of Houston paid homage to forms drawn from earlier periods of architectural history, using modern materials, construction methods, and scale. The facade of the Hines building resembles, on a larger scale, the neoclassic facades of the French architect [[Claude Nicolas Ledoux]].

'''[[400 West Market]]''' (1993) in Louisville, Kentucky, is a 35-story office tower built of reinforced concrete rather than the typical steel. It is topped by a concrete cupola, a vestige of the building's original owner and builder, Capital Holding.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Louisville|last=Kleber|first=John E.|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=2001|isbn=0-8131-2100-0|pages=6–7}}</ref>

In 1986, Johnson and Burgee moved their offices into one of their new buildings, the elliptical [[Lipstick Building]] at 885 Third Avenue in New York, nicknamed because of its resemblance to the color and shape of a stick of lipstick.  A feud was beginning between the two architects, with Burgee demanding greater recognition.<ref name=NYT-obit/>

As their business flourished and number of clients grew, the feud between Burgee and Johnson continued to grow. In 1988, the firm's name was changed to John Burgee Architects with Johnson as the "design consultant". In 1991, Johnson responded by establishing his own firm. The feud ended badly for Burgee; he was saddled with all of the firm's debts, while Johnson no longer had any responsibility. Burgee was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy and to retire, while Johnson continued to get commissions.<ref name=NYT-obit/>

==Later career and buildings (1991–2005)==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Comericatower.jpg|[[Ally Detroit Center]] in [[Detroit]], Michigan (1991–1993)
File:191 Peachtree Westin cropped.jpg|[[191 Peachtree Tower]] in [[Atlanta]] (1991)
File:Chapel of St. Basil.png|[[Chapel of St. Basil]] at the [[University of St. Thomas (Texas)|University of St. Thomas]] in [[Houston]], Texas (1992)
File:Da-monsta-philip-johnson-glass-house.jpg|"Da Monsta" entry pavilion for the [[Glass House]] in [[New Canaan, Connecticut]] (1995)
File:PlazaCastillaMadrid.JPG|[[Gate of Europe]] towers in [[Madrid]], Spain (1989–96)
File:190 South LaSalle Street, Chicago.jpg|[[U.S. Bank Building (Chicago)|190 South LaSalle]] in [[Chicago]], Illinois (1987)
</gallery>
After four years as a solo practitioner, Johnson invited Alan Ritchie to join him as a partner. Ritchie had been a partner for many years in the Johnson-Burgee office and was the partner-in-charge of the AT&T building and the [[U.S. Bank Building (Chicago)|'''190 South LaSalle''']] office building, a skyscraper designed as an homage to the demolished [[Masonic Temple (Chicago)|Masonic Temple]] of Chicago. In 1994, they formed the new practice of Philip Johnson-Alan Ritchie Architects. During the next 10 years, they worked closely together and explored new directions in architecture, designing buildings as sculptural objects.

The '''[[Gate of Europe]]''' in Madrid (1989-1996) was originally a collaboration with Burgee and one of his rare works in Europe. It features two office buildings leaning toward each other, the first example of this style, which spread to America. The towers are 26 stories each, and both lean by 15 degrees from vertical.

'''[[191 Peachtree Tower]]''' in Atlanta was a project begun with Burgee. It is composed of two 50-story towers joined and crowned with two classical pavilions.<ref>[https://structurae.net/en/structures/191-peachtree-tower]"Structurae.com, "Peachtree Tower"</ref>

The '''[[Comerica Tower]]''' (1991-1993) was also begun with Burgee. Like their earlier Postmodern works, it featured elements borrowed from historical architecture, particularly the triangular gables, borrowed from Renaissance [[Architecture of the Netherlands#Renaissance and Baroque|Flemish architecture]]. It is the second tallest building in the state of Michigan.

The '''[[Chapel of St. Basil]]''' at the [[University of St. Thomas (Texas)|University of St. Thomas]] in Houston, Texas (1992) is a notable late work. The design includes a domed chapel, a campanile, and a meditation garden, a labyrinth. Its structure is a combination of the basic forms: a cube, a sphere, and a plane. The cube contains the worship area, beneath a semi-sphere, which is presented as the symbolic opening to heaven. The vertical rectangular granite plane divides the church and opens the chapel to light. During daytime the interior is lit entirely with natural light.<ref>[https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/philip-johnson-architecture-buildings]"Get to Know Philip Johnson's Iconic Architecture", The "Architectural Digest", May 12, 2016</ref>

In 1995, Johnson added a postmodern element to his own residence, the [[Glass House]]. This was a new entry pavilion in a sculptural form, which he called the "Monsta", or "Monster".

Other late works include the '''Cathedral of Hope in Dallas''', the '''Habitable Sculpture''' (a 26-story apartment tower in [[Lower Manhattan]], the Children's Museum in [[Guadalajara]], Mexico, and The '''[[Chrysler Center]]'''.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Urbanglasshouse.png|The [[Urban Glass House]] condominiums in New York (2006)
File:The Ware Center Millersville University.jpg|[[The Ware Center of Millersville University|The Ware Center]] in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (2008)
</gallery>

The [[Urban Glass House]] in [[Lower Manhattan]] was one of last designs with Alan Ritchie, and was not completed after Johnson's death. It is a condominium building in lower Manhattan whose form was inspired by Johnson's most famous early work, the [[Glass House]] in New Canaan, Connecticut.

The final building he designed with Richie was the '''[[Pennsylvania Academy of Music]]''' building in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]], which was completed in 2008, three years after his death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-may-20-et-quick20.3-story.html|title=Music Academy is Architect's Finale |work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 20, 2006 |access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usaarchitects.com/article/usa-architects-design-renovations-pennsylvania-academy-music-building|title=USA Architects to Design Renovations to the Pennsylvania Academy of Music Building|website=Usaarcitects.com|date=May 4, 2016|access-date=April 11, 2017}}</ref>

==Honors==
In 1978, Johnson was awarded an [[American Institute of Architects]] [[AIA Gold Medal|Gold Medal]]. In 1979, he became the first recipient of the [[Pritzker Prize|Pritzker Architecture Prize]] the most prestigious international architectural award.<ref name="Goldberger, Paul 1979"/>

In 1991, Johnson received the Golden Plate Award of the [[American Academy of Achievement]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Johnson was [[Homosexuality|gay]]. He came out publicly in 1993, and was regarded as "the best-known openly gay architect in America".<ref name=gay>{{cite book|title=Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia|volume=2|isbn=978-0-8153-1880-4|editor=George Haggerty|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2000|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofga00ghag/page/498 498]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofga00ghag/page/498}}</ref>

In 1934, Philip Johnson began his first serious relationship with [[Jimmie Daniels]], a cabaret singer. The relationship lasted one year.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schulze|first1=Franz|title=Philip Johnson: Life and Work|date=1996|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=93|isbn=978-0-226-74058-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAe2qWReLhAC&pg=PA93|access-date=October 4, 2017}}</ref>

Johnson died in his sleep at his [[Glass House]] retreat on January 25, 2005, at the age of ninety-eight. His partner of 45 years, [[David Whitney]],<ref name=alp>Pierce, Lisa, "Through the Looking Glass", August 1, 2010, pp 1, A4, ''[[The Advocate (Stamford)|The Advocate]]'' of Stamford, Connecticut</ref><ref name=bgpjg>Gutoff, Bija, [https://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/glasshouse/ "Philip Johnson: A Glass House Opens"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208181856/http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/glasshouse/ |date=February 8, 2010 }}, at Apple website, no date given, retrieved August 8, 2010</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/arts/design/14whitney.html|title=David Whitney, 66, Renowned Art Collector, Dies|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 11, 2009|first=Randy|last=Kennedy|date=June 14, 2005}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books? Bourdon, David (May 1970). "What's Up in Art, The Castelli Clan"]. ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''. Accessed June 9, 2010.</ref> died later that year at age 66.<ref>[http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/history/bios/whitney/chapter1/ Glass House history chapter 1] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011112748/http://philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/history/bios/whitney/chapter1/ |date=October 11, 2011 }}</ref>

Johnson was among the public figures at the core of the effort to save [[Olana State Historic Site|Olana]], the home of [[Frederic Edwin Church]], before it was dedicated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1965 and subsequently became a New York State Historic Site.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Frederic Church's Olana on the Hudson|publisher=The Olana Partnership/Rizzoli International Publications|year=2018|isbn=978-0-8478-6311-2|location=Hudson, NY|pages=191}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Roberta|date=May 30, 1999|title=Artists in Residence; Architecture: A half-dozen houses in New York and Massachusetts paint revealing pictures of their famous inhabitants' talents and times|work=The Baltimore Sun|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1999-05-30-9906020384-story.html|access-date=May 11, 2020}}</ref>

In his will Johnson left his residential compound to the [[National Trust for Historic Preservation]]. It is now open to the public.

==Art collection and archives==
As an art collector Johnson had an eclectic eye. He supported [[avant-garde]] movements and young artists often before they became widely known. His collection of American art was strong in [[Abstract expressionism]], [[Pop Art]], [[Minimalism]], [[Neo-Dada]], [[Color Field]], [[Lyrical Abstraction]], and [[Neo-Expressionism]] and he often donated important works from his collection to institutions like [[MoMA]], and other important private museums and University collections like the [[Norton Simon Museum]], the [[Sheldon Museum of Art]] and the [[Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts]] at [[Stanford University]] among many others.<ref name=NYT-obit />

Johnson's publicly held archive, including architectural drawings, project records, and other papers up until 1964 are held by the Drawings and Archives Department of [[Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library]] at [[Columbia University]], the Getty, and the Museum of Modern Art.

==Controversy over political activities==
Reviewing Franz Schulze's biography of Johnson, Kazys Varnelis wrote that "between 1932 and 1940, Johnson was an [[antisemitism|antisemite]], [[fascism|fascist]] sympathizer, and active [[propaganda|propagandist]] for the [[Nazi government]]."<ref name="Varnelis">{{cite journal|last=Varnelis|first=Kazys, Cornell University|date=November 1994|title=We Cannot Not Know History: Philip Johnson's Politics and Cynical Survival|url=http://varnelis.net/articles/we_cannot_not_know_history|url-status=dead|journal=Journal of Architectural Education|publisher=Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc.|volume=49|issue=2|pages=92–104|doi=10.2307/1425400|jstor=1425400|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108152702/http://varnelis.net/research/johnson.html|archive-date=November 8, 2010|access-date=January 29, 2013|url-access=subscription}}</ref> According to Varnelis, "Johnson makes no apologetic gesture toward his past behavior unless he is confronted by direct questioning, nothing even as paltry as an open letter accounting for and regretting his past actions and condemning the motives that led him to them".<ref name="Varnelis" /> Johnson's activities included organizing political rallies for populist [[Huey Long]]; funding figures such as the right-wing agitator [[Joe McWilliams]] and his "Christian Mobilizers";<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lamster |first1=Mark |title=Was Architect Philip Johnson a Nazi Spy? (book excerpt) |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/10/philip-johnson-the-man-in-the-glass-house-mark-lamster-excerpt.html |access-date=August 8, 2021 |publisher=New York Magazine Intelligencer |date=October 31, 2018}}</ref> and writing for three periodicals, including [[Charles Coughlin]]'s [[Social Justice (periodical)|''Social Justice'']], whose "almost every issue contained articles about the 'Jewish conspiracy' or about destructive economic forces led by figures with Jewish names".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wortman |first=Marc |title=1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War |date=2016 |publisher=Atlantic Monthly Press |isbn=978-1-5318-6502-3 |oclc=963235305}}. Quoted in {{Cite magazine |last=Wortman |first=Marc |date=April 4, 2016 |title=Famed Architect Philip Johnson's Hidden Nazi Past |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>

Because his family had a home in Germany and spent their summers there, Johnson traveled there frequently. As a ''Social Justice'' correspondent, he covered the huge Nazi rally at Nuremberg and the 1939 [[invasion of Poland]] with approval. The American correspondent [[William L. Shirer]], traveling with him on the Nazi-sponsored press tour, labeled him in  ''[[Berlin Diary]]'', as  "the American fascist" and suspected him of spying for the Germans.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shirer |first1=William L. |title=Berlin Diary |date=October 23, 2011 |publisher=Rosetta Books |page=241 |isbn=978-0-7953-1698-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oYoqAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT241 |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref>  On the same tour, three weeks after Poland fell to the Nazis, Johnson, with Shirer,  "was with German troops at the front as the guest of the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Propaganda Ministry]]".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hurowitz |first1=Richard |title=Don't forget Philip Johnson's Nazi past |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/dont-forget-philip-johnsons-nazi-past-468759 |access-date=August 4, 2021 |publisher=Jerusalem Post |date=September 26, 2016}}</ref> He wrote to a friend that "The German green uniforms made the place look gay and happy... There were not many Jews to be seen. We saw Warsaw burn and [[Battle of Modlin|Modlin being bombed]]. It was a stirring spectacle."<ref name="Guardian obituary">{{cite news |last1=Saint |first1=Andrew |title=Philip Johnson (obit) – Flamboyant postmodern architect whose career was marred by a flirtation with nazism |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jan/29/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1 |access-date=August 4, 2021 |publisher=Guardian |date=January 28, 2005}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/dept-of-design/philip-johnson-the-man-who-made-architecture-amoral|title=Philip Johnson, the Man Who Made Architecture Amoral|last=Saval|first=Nikil|magazine=The New Yorker|date=December 12, 2018|access-date=February 12, 2019|language=en|issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

In his ''Social Justice'' report on his trip to Poland, Johnson declared that the German victory amounted to an unmitigated triumph for the Polish people and that nothing in the war's outcome need concern Americans. Johnson went on to say that German forces had not significantly harmed Polish civilians, and said that "99 percent of the towns I visited since the war are not only intact but full of Polish peasants and Jewish shopkeepers." He said reports of Nazi mistreatment of Poles was "misinformed".<ref name=":0" /> Referring to political developments in France, Johnson wrote in ''Social Justice'' that "Lack of leadership and direction in the state has let the one group get control who always gain power in a nation's time of weakness—the Jews". In 1940 Johnson quit journalism and distanced himself from politics.

In April 1942, on reports that Johnson might be working in [[William J. Donovan|Colonel Donovan]]'s [[Office of the Coordinator of Information]], the [[United States Assistant Attorney General]] [[James H. Rowe]] wrote to Director Hoover, saying, "I can think of no more dangerous man to have working in an agency which possesses so many military secrets."<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Philip Johnson FBI file, part 1. pg 84 |url=https://archive.org/details/PhilipJohnson/219654037-Architect-Philip-Johnson-FBI-File-Part-1/page/n83/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |access-date=August 4, 2021}}</ref> Johnson was later investigated by the FBI, but no charges were brought against him, and he was cleared for military service.<ref name=Schulze-94 /><ref name=NYT-obit />

Johnson was inducted into the U.S. Army in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1943, but controversy continued. His name arose again in the so-called "[[Great Sedition Trial]]" of 1944 through his former contacts in the 1930s with its main target, the former diplomat and economist [[Lawrence Dennis]], who in the 1930s supported fascist economics as an alternative to capitalism. Dennis was charged with [[sedition]], or advocating the forcible overthrow of the U.S. government, under the [[Smith Act]]. Johnson was accused of "close and steady contact" with Dennis in the spring of 1938, and providing financial support towards publishing Dennis's 1940 book ''The Dynamics of War and Revolution''. Johnson had already testified in 1942 in the government case against another former associate, the German poet and journalist [[George Sylvester Viereck]] in 1942.<ref name=Schulze-94 /> The ongoing federal case against Dennis, an FBI investigation, and a congressional investigation investigated about 30 people, including Johnson, but in the end he was not charged.<ref name=vanityfair /> Johnson was formally asked to appear at trial as a witness, and—by his own account—was speaking to prosecutor [[O. John Rogge]],<ref name=Schulze-94 /> but after Judge [[Edward C. Eicher]] died of a heart attack, a mistrial was declared and the case was dropped.

In 1993, when asked by ''Vanity Fair'' about his past political views, he said, "I have no excuse (for) such unbelievable stupidity. ... I don't know how you expiate guilt."<ref name="Varnelis" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://archrecord.construction.com/people/profiles/archives/0505johnsonProfile_stern.asp|title=Philip Johnson: An Essay by Robert A.M. Stern|last=Stern|first=Robert A. M.|date=May 2005|work=[[Architectural Record]]|access-date=August 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507180021/http://archrecord.construction.com/people/profiles/archives/0505johnsonProfile_stern.asp|archive-date=May 7, 2005|author-link=Robert A. M. Stern}}</ref><ref name=vanityfair>{{cite news |last=Wortman |first=Marc |date=April 4, 2016 |title=Famed Architect Philip Johnson's Hidden Nazi Past |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/04/philip-johnson-nazi-architect-marc-wortman |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=May 15, 2018}}</ref>

In 1956, he donated a design for [[Congregation Kneses Tifereth Israel]] in Port Chester, New York. Architecture professor Anat Geva observed in a paper that "all critics agree that his design of the Port Chester Synagogue can be considered as his attempt to ask for forgiveness."<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last1=Geva|first1=Anat|title=An Architect Asks For Forgiveness: Philip Johnson's Port Chester Synagogue |url=http://www.acsforum.org/symposium2014/papers/GEVA.pdf|website=Symposium of Architecture, Culture and Spirituality|publisher=ACS Forum|access-date=June 17, 2014}}</ref>

He discussed his trips to Germany and his infatuation with fascism in a 1996 interview with [[Charlie Rose]]. He said, "It was the stupidest thing I ever did, and I never forgive myself and I never can atone for it. There's nothing I can do... That's been torture to me ever since."<ref name="Rose 1996">Interview with Charlie Rose (July 8, 1996)</ref> He admitted to Rose that, while he had "difficulty" with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] because of his inability to achieve what he set out, he "worshiped the man" and "voted for him four times."<ref name="Rose 1996" /> Replying to Rose asking if he liked "strong figures", he said "Sure do. I like good architects that are strong, like [[Frank Gehry|Gehry]]."<ref name="Rose 1996" />

In 2018, [[Nikil Saval]] wrote in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' that "Johnson would later describe Hitler as 'a spellbinder'; in 1964, well after he had been forced to abjure his Nazi past, he insisted in letters that Hitler was 'better than Roosevelt.'"<ref name=":1" />

In 2020, in the wake of the [[murder of George Floyd]] and the wave of [[List of name changes due to the George Floyd protests|place name changes]] that followed, the Johnson Study Group—a group of 40 architects, designers, and educators—approached the Museum of Modern Art asking that honors given to Johnson be removed from public view, citing his "commitment to white supremacy", spread of Nazi publications, involvement with American fascist politics, and "effective segregation" of the architectural collection at the museum. "When it comes to racist urban planning policies in the 20th century and a deeply Eurocentric antiblack archive of American architecture," [[V. Mitch McEwen]] said, "MoMA under white supremacist Philip Johnson did largely create the problem. It innovated white supremacy in architecture ... where under his leadership not a single work by any Black architect or designer was included."<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 18, 2021 |orig-date=2020-11-27 |title=Letter |url=https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vQBZHBg20UdYfLz69NOPqPzrkz1LY97Pcgl1Pc05tBt-rYWWP6QQMqO2-yf8KGVIY1CgNQUQYlNbO88/pub?usp=embed_facebook |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=Google Docs |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Artists Ask MoMA to Remove Philip Johnson's Name, Citing Racist Views|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/arts/design/philip-johnson-moma.html|first=Sarah|last=Bahr|date=December 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Cohen>{{cite news|title=Sure, erase the names of history's racists. That won't undo their messes|first=Noam|last=Cohen|author-link=Noam Cohen|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|date=March 26, 2021|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/philip-johnson-moma-flexner-vollmer-racist/2021/03/26/a179e242-8cdc-11eb-a730-1b4ed9656258_story.html}}</ref>

In a 2020 article in ''[[Elle Decor]]'' magazine, articles editor Charles Curkin asked Pritzker Prize laureate [[Balkrishna Doshi]] if the architecture world was due for a reckoning, citing the [[Museum of Modern Art]]'s chief architecture and design curatorship still being named after Johnson. Doshi replied that "Life itself is due for a reckoning, and architects must give respect to life."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Curkin |first1=Charles |title=Architect Balkrishna Doshi on the need for a reckoning in design |url=https://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/a34836752/balkrishna-doshi-architecture-reckoning/ |website=Elle Decor|date=December 2, 2020 |access-date=December 9, 2020}}</ref>

In 2020, Johnson's name was dropped from the [[Harvard University]] Philip Johnson Thesis House, which was designed by Johnson.<ref name="Hickman 2020">{{cite web |last1=Hickman |first1=Matt |title=Harvard will remove Philip Johnson's name from Cambridge home that he designed as graduate student |url=https://www.archpaper.com/2020/12/harvard-will-remove-philip-johnson-name-from-cambridge-home-he-designed/ |website=The Architect's Newspaper |date=December 8, 2020 |access-date=December 9, 2020}}</ref> [[Sarah Whiting]], dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, announced the change on December 5, 2020, citing Johnson's "widely documented [[white supremacist]] views and activities."<ref name="Hickman 2020" />

==Quotations==
* "I got everything from someone. Nobody can be original. As Mies van der Rohe said, 'I don't want to be original. I want to be good.'"<ref name=Esquire-99>{{cite interview |url=http://classic.esquire.com/philip-johnson-what-ive-learned/ |title=Philip Johnson: What I've Learned |subject=Philip Johnson |interviewer=John H. Richardson |work=Esquire |date=February 1999 |access-date=May 15, 2018}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
* "Don't build a glass house if you're worried about saving money on heating."<ref name=Esquire-99 />
* "Everybody should design their own home. I'm against architects designing homes. How do I know that you want to live in a picture-window Colonial? It's silly, but you might want to. Who am I to say?"<ref name=Esquire-99 />
* "Architecture is the arrangement of space for excitement."<ref name=Esquire-99 />
* "Storms in this house [The [[Glass House]]] are horrendous but thrilling. Glass shatters. Danger is one of the greatest things to use in architecture."<ref name=Esquire-99 />
* "A room is only as good as you feel when you're in it."<ref name=Esquire-99 />
* "Merely that a building works is not sufficient."<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1566834 |title=The Seven Crutches of Modern Architecture |author=Johnson, Philip |date=1955 |journal=Perspecta |volume=3 |pages=40–45 |jstor=1566834 }}&nbsp;[https://hts3.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/philip-johnson_the-seven-crutches-of-modern-architecture.pdf alternate URL]</ref>
* "We still have a monumental architecture. To me, the drive for monumentality is as inbred as the desire for food and sex, regardless of how we denigrate it."<ref name=NYT-obit />

==In popular culture==
Johnson is mentioned (along with fellow architect [[Richard Rogers]]) in the song "Thru These Architect's Eyes" on the album ''[[Outside (David Bowie album)|Outside]]'' (1995) by [[David Bowie]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/11470-richard-rogers-delighted-to-have-been-name-dropped-in-david-bowie-song |title=Richard Rogers "Delighted" to Have Been Name-Dropped in David Bowie Song |last= Fixsen|first=Anna |date=January 18, 2016 |website=[[Architectural Record]]|access-date=December 25, 2021}}</ref>

He appears in Nathaniel Kahn's ''My Architect'', a 2003 documentary about Kahn's father, [[Louis Kahn]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archdaily.com/240582/films-architecture-my-architect |title=Film and Architecture 'My Architect'|date=June 4, 2012|access-date=June 24, 2015}}</ref>

Philip Johnson's Glass House, along with [[Mies van der Rohe]]'s [[Farnsworth House (Plano, Illinois)|Farnsworth House]], was the subject of [[Sarah Morris]]'s 2010 film ''Points on a Line''. Morris filmed at both sites over the course of several months, among other locations including The [[Four Seasons Restaurant]], the Seagram Building, Mies van der Roheʼs controversial [[860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments]], and Chicagoʼs [[Newberry Library]].

==See also==
* [[List of works by Philip Johnson]]
* [[fascism in the United States|Fascist movement in the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |last=Schulze |first=Franz |title=Philip Johnson: Life and Work |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-226-74058-4 |url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3640523.html |access-date=May 15, 2018}}
* {{cite book|last=Bony|first=Anne|title=L'Architecture Moderne|language=fr|publisher=Larousse|year=2012|isbn=978-2-03-587641-6}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Taschen|first1=Aurelia|last2=Taschen|first2=Balthazar|title=L'Architecture Moderne de A à Z|year=2016|publisher=Bibliotheca Universalis|language=fr|isbn=978-3-8365-5630-9|ref={{harvid|Taschen|2016}}}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Prina|first1=Francesca|last2=Demaratini|first2=Demartini|title=Petite encyclopédie de l'architecture|year=2006|language=fr|publisher=Solar|isbn=2-263-04096-X}}
* {{Cite book|last=Hopkins|first=Owen|title=Les styles en architecture- guide visuel|year=2014|publisher=Dunod|language=fr|isbn=978-2-10-070689-1}}
* {{Cite book|last=De Bure|first=Gilles|title=Architecture contemporaine- le guide|year=2015|publisher=Flammarion|language=fr|isbn=978-2-08-134385-6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Lamster |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Lamster |title=The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson, Architect of the Modern Century |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-316-12643-4 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company }}
*{{cite book|last=Watkin|first=David|title=A History of Western Architecture|year=1986|publisher=Barrie and Jenkins|location=London|isbn=0-7126-1279-3}}

==Further reading==
* Lacayo, Richard (June 28, 2007). [https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1638456,00.html ''Splendor in The Glass'']. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''. Retrieved March 2021.
* [https://www.amazon.com/Philip-Johnson-Diary-Eccentric-Architect/dp/B07KFSM2H4 ''Philip Johnson: Diary of an Eccentric Architect'', 1997 documentary]. Retrieved March 2021
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061118150957/http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2377 "Extending the Legacy"] Alexandra Lange article on the preservation of the Glass House, from the November 2006 issue of ''[[Metropolis (American magazine)|Metropolis]]'' magazine.
* [http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Philip_Johnson.html Philip Johnson article at Great Buildings Online]. Retrieved September 27, 2003.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20031008034215/http://www.pritzkerprize.com/pjohn.htm Philip Johnson bio on the Pritzker Architecture Prize website]. Retrieved September 27, 2003.
* [https://charlierose.com/videos/9372 Philip Johnson and Charlie Rose.] Retrieved March 2021.
* Heyer, Paul, ed. (1966). ''Architects on Architecture: New Directions in America'', p.&nbsp;279. New York: Walker and Company.
* [https://charlierose.com/videos/18953 One hour interview] with [[Charlie Rose]] (July 8, 1996) Retrieved March 2021
* [https://charlierose.com/guests/721Other Other interviews with or about Philip Johnson on Charlie Rose at Google Video] Retrieved March 2021
* [[Calvin Tomkins|Tomkins, Calvin]] (May 15, 1977). "Forms Under Light" (Profile of Philip Johnson).''[[The New Yorker]]''.
* Jenkins, Stover, et al. ''The Houses of Philip Johnson'', New York: [[Abbeville Publishing Group (Abbeville Press, Inc.)]], 2001.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=3087991 Obituary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202053/http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=3087991 |date=September 27, 2007 }}
* [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/6318429 Philip Johnson architectural drawings, 1943-1994 (bulk 1943-1970)].[http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery/da.html Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives], [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery.html/ Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University].
* [http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/index/johnson/johnsonindex.html The Architecture of Philip Johnson]
* {{cite web|title= Philip Johnson Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/#interview}}
* Finding aid for [[hdl:10020/cifa2002m39|Philip Johnson architectural projects]] at the Getty Research Institute
* Finding aid for [[hdl:10020/cifa980060|Philip Johnson papers]] at the Getty Research Institute
* {{IMDb name|0426004|Philip Johnson}}

{{Pritzker Prize laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Philip}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American architects]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century people from Connecticut]]
[[Category:20th-century people from New York (state)]]
[[Category:21st-century American architects]]
[[Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:21st-century American male artists]]
[[Category:21st-century people from Connecticut]]
[[Category:21st-century people from New York (state)]]
[[Category:AIGA medalists]]
[[Category:American ecclesiastical architects]]
[[Category:American fascists]]
[[Category:American gay artists]]
[[Category:American people of Dutch descent]]
[[Category:American residential architects]]
[[Category:Architects from Cleveland]]
[[Category:Architects from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Architects from New York City]]
[[Category:Architects of the Boston Public Library]]
[[Category:Artists from Manhattan]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Institute of Architects]]
[[Category:Hackley School alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni]]
[[Category:LGBTQ architects]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Connecticut]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state)]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:Modernist architects from the United States]]
[[Category:People associated with the Museum of Modern Art (New York City)]]
[[Category:People from New Canaan, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People from New London, Ohio]]
[[Category:People with bipolar disorder]]
[[Category:Postmodern architects]]
[[Category:Pritzker Architecture Prize winners]]
[[Category:Recipients of the AIA Gold Medal]]
[[Category:Ritchie Boys]]
[[Category:Skyscraper architects]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]