philip johnson glass house, demystified

went on a lovely tour of the glass house last weekend. gorgeous setting. great vision.

a house of glass is shocking except that it is private and surrounded by acres of giant trees.  it is important to know that it was really a weekend house until the last 3 years of his life when he moved in full time. the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter made it fairly unlivable. the brick house across the walkway held all the mechanical workings of the house, leaving the glass house free to be simply glass and unconcerned with such mundane and unattractive things. the two buildings were connected by an underground tunnel. he built several buildings on the property, an underground berm art gallery, a sculpture gallery, a study with a giant occulus, and monsta house, the visitor reception building, above.

he said "effect is everything." and "create beautiful things. that's all." 

i am such a pragmatist, to a fault, that of course i loved it completely, and utterly. 

note to self: be more like philip johnson.