RIP Phillip Johnson (1906-2005)

[Dick Seibert]

We have lost one of our greatest architects Phillip Johnson. My favorite Johnson quote, San Francisco 1979:

Johnson told a San Francisco crowd in 1979 that architects such as himself were "very high-class whores who believe in doing what the society of our times tells us to do."

In his most notable and controversial design, The Glass House the contractor went over budget, and the owner sued him, but he created something for the ages.

[Al (Ca.)]

Dick
P. Johnson designed the Crystal Cathedral located in Garden Grove, Ca.
I live just two blocks away from it.
He was interviewed by Dr. Schuller the day of its inauguration, I believe. I was there that day.

I remember the sound was terrible.
The speakers were behind the pews and you could hear nothing.
Over time all the problems with the sound had been taken care of.

At that time I was a volunteer counselor for the church hot line called New Hope, talking with all kinds of people over the phone 4 hours every two weeks.
Al

[Allan Edwards]

He was a great architect, he did a house here in River Oaks that is a classic. But most of what he did here was commercial, in fact, in a front page article yesterday he is quoted as saying "My best work was done in Houston". Many of our best building he designed.

[HenryP]

Allan:

You were doing fine...then you had to mention "Houston".

You know where your next pissing match with Dick is going to be.

Of course you knew (smile).

Henry

[Dick Seibert]

Henry:

Remember I posted this recently:

Here in Texas there is no such board, most cities only require a bond to do business as a contractor, so anyone with $150 can be a contractor, and out in the unincorporated areas, well that's another story. In most areas of Texas outside a city, there are no permits required, no inspections performed, no licenses required, etc..., talk about the wild wild west. It's amazing that we can even get homeowners insurance in this great state. And nothing's going to change anytime soon, our state legislature meets every other year for 120 days and they have more important issues than to waste their time with such trivial things as building codes.

A Sacramento architect has responded:

Your last post motivated me to speak with a contractor friend of mine who has much experience in both Texas and California. Consistent with your statements, he said he built most of his commercial projects in Texas without permits or inspections. He also said that his insurance (including general liability and completed operations) and bond premiums were no greater in Texas than they were in California. The fact that California has such rigorous licensing, plan review, and field inspections was deemed irrelevant to the surety companies. Very interesting.

None of us can even begin to understand Texas, but he has to say something outrageous to get me mad. I do have some good Texas jokes though!

The owner of a construction company in Houston was confused about paying an invoice, so he decided to ask his secretary for some mathematical help. He called her into his office and said, "You graduated from the Univ. of Texas and I need some help. If I were to give you $20,000, minus 14%, how much would you take off?" The secretary thought a moment, then replied, "Everything but my earrings." You gotta love those Texas women.
__________________________________________________ ________________
A group of Texas contractors went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. Where's Billy Bob?" the others asked. "Billy Bob had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail," the successful hunter replied. "You left Billy Bob laying out there and carried the deer back?" they inquired. "A tough call," nodded the hunter. "But I figured no one is going to steal Billy Bob!"
__________________________________________________ _______________
Regarding the year 2000, a Houston contractor was overhead saying "when the end of the world comes, I hope to be in Texas." When asked why, he stated that everything happens there 20 years later than the rest of the civilized world.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++
The young Texas man came running into the saloon and said to his buddy, "Bobby Joe, somebody just stole your pickup truck outta the parking lot!" Bobby Joe replied, "Did you see who it was? "The young Texan answered. "I couldn't tell, but I got the license number."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++
NEWS FLASH- Texas' worst air disaster occurred when a small two-seater Cessna 150 plane, piloted by two University of Texas students, crashed into a cemetery earlier today. Search and rescue workers have recovered 300 bodies so far and expect the number to climb as digging continues into the evening. The pilot and copilot survived and are helping in the recovery efforts.
================================================== ==========
A Texas Ranger pulled over a pickup on 1-45. The ranger asked "Got any ID?" The driver replied, "Bout whut?"
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A Houston contractor had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of I-45 on his way to Dallas, and proceeded to put one bouquet of flowers in front of the truck and one behind it. Then he got back in the truck to wait. A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back. He asked the contractor what the problem was. The contractor replied, " I have a flat tire." The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?" The contractor responded, "When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back! I never did understand it neither.

[HenryP]

And away we go!

[Allan Edwards]

Dick:

Almost all rural areas of this country have very lax or even no building codes, Texas is no exception. However, the cities where most of the new homes are being built do have fairly strict building codes, I would put “Houston quality” in regards to custom homes (not tract builders-we all know they build crap everywhere!) up against any city anywhere. In fact, feedback I got from designers and architects at the latest NAHB show was that we are now becoming cutting edge with regards to design, quality, and features.

[Allan Edwards]

By the way, more on Philip Johnson. His famous quote was “my best client ever was myself”. He built and lived in a glass house. He was gay. (last remark not intended to offend anyone).

http://www.pritzkerprize.com/johnson/johnsonpg.htm

[Dick Seibert]

Allan:

Funny, Henry thought he could get us into a fight over this, in reality this statement opened my eyes:

He also said that his insurance (including general liability and completed operations) and bond premiums were no greater in Texas than they were in California. The fact that California has such rigorous licensing, plan review, and field inspections was deemed irrelevant to the surety companies. Very interesting.

I have to wonder if all of our codes and and regulations do any good.

I've always been an admirer of good architecture, in '69 I took a trip to Brasilia to see the cutting edge work done down there, I have also been a fan of Oscar Niemeyer, one of his signature architectural effects is no handrails on stairs, and I wonder how many people actually injure themselves falling down Niemeyer's stairs? He also won the Pritzker Prize. I would much rather just build significant architectural works than make a lot of money any day; however, I've seen too many contractors go broke trying. Our Oakland Museum is a beautiful Eero Saarinen/Kevin Roche work that broke a few contractors, I don't think they have ever been able to stop the leaks. All architecturally significant works should be built on a time and material basis, there is no way to estimate these "prototypes", and the on-going problems they present. Here is a list of all Pritzker Prize winners.

Sadly, one of my favorite houses was torn down recently, the Catalano house. I saw a Frank Lloyd Wright torn down when I was in college, Stanford has preserved the Hanna House recently, at huge expense. Everybody's all time favorite has to be FLW's Fallingwater

I think we spend too much time talking about making money, and not enough about building architecturally significant structures. We are going to be remembered for what we built, not for our bank balances.

[Jerrald Hayes]

One winter years ago I was working on this one particular home and through the woods I could see this other structure and said " that looks like a knockoff of Philip Johnson's Glass House" to which the owner of the house I was working on said "that is Philip Johnson's Glass House".

Nice neighborhood.

[Stotman]

The FLW Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio has been undergoing renovation for several years. It was formerly a cut-up apartment house.

http://www.westcotthouse.org/

[Glenn M]

I am constantly amazed at how many examples of architectural genius literally don't hold water. (Out) or are so impractical as to be unlivable.
At 6'-2" I recall ducking under some FLW doorways and was told he had quoted something like "no-one should be taller than 5'-6" anyway." as a rationalization for retaining some related but inflexible form.
Personally I think the real genius is in convincing the rich to part with their money in order to build the architects reputation.

[philthegreek]

Here's a Phillip Johnson house from my neck of the woods. It's in South Salem NY, near Pound Ridge.

[tjbnwi]

So who did the glass house first, this one was also over budget;

http://www.farnsworthhouse.org/photos.htm

Tom

[Dick Seibert]

Phil:

Did you take the pictures?