Philip Cortelyou Johnson (1906 - 2005)

Born 8 Jul 1906 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of David Grainger Whitney — married 1960 in New Canaan, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

Died 25 Jan 2005 at age 98 in New Canaan, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

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Philip Johnson is Notable.

Biography

Philip was an influential American Architect. He is especially known for his postmodern work from the 1980s and beyond, as well as his collaborations with John Burgee. One of his best known buildings was "The Glass House," which he designed for himself (pictured as the background image here.)

He was born 8 July 1906 in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Homer Johnson and Louise Pope.^[1]

Philip was gay. He came out publicly in 1993, and was regarded as "the best-known openly gay architect in America."^[2]

In 1934, Philip Johnson began a year-long relationship with Jimmie Daniels, a cabaret singer.^[3]

On 14 October 1940, when Philip registered for the draft, he gave his full name as Philip Cortleyou Johnson. He was 34 years old, born 8 July 1906 in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time of the registration he was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with his mother, Louise Pope Johnson and was employed by Harvard University. Philip was described as being 5'10: in height, 150 pounds with gray hair and brown eyes.^[4]

The author Marc Wortman posits that Philip supported the American fascist movement during the 1930s. This chapter of Philip's life was explored in a 2016 book by Mr. Wortman, which claims that Philip held a fascination with Nazism. Marc Wortman wrote a piece for Vanity Fair, Famed Architect Philip Johnson’s Hidden Nazi Past. which can be read online here. The article provides research into Philip support of fascism, which Mr. Wortman pointed out abruptly ended in the years immediately after the close of World War II.^[5]

In 1960, he began a relationship with David Whitney, an art curator, collector and critic. Philip and David were together until Philip's death 45 years later. David died shortly after Philip's death.^[6]

Philip died 25 January 2005 in New Canaan, Fairfield, Connecticut at the age of 98. ^[7]

Obituary:^[8]

Philip Johnson, the innovative architect who promoted the "glass box" skyscraper and then smashed the mold with daringly nostalgic post-modernist designs, has died. He was 98.

Mr. Johnson died Tuesday night at his home in New Canaan, Conn., said Joel S. Ehrenkranz, his lawyer.

Mr. Johnson's work ranged from the severe modernism of his New Canaan home, a glass cube in the woods, to the Chippendale-topped AT&T Building in New York City, now owned by Sony.

He also designed the WRVA radio studios at 22nd and East Grace streets in the Church Hill area of Richmond, Va. The building opened in 1968 and housed the radio station until it moved in 2000.

He and his partner, John Burgee, designed the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, Calif., an ecclesiastical greenhouse that is wider and higher than Notre Dame in Paris; the Bank of America building in Houston, a 56-story tower of pink granite stepped back in a series of Dutch gable roofs; and the Cleveland Playhouse, a complex with the feel of an 11th-century town.

"Architecture is basically the design of interiors, the art of organizing interior space," Mr. Johnson said in a 1965 interview.

He expressed a loathing for buildings that are "slide-rule boxes for maximum return of rent," and once said his great ambition was "to build the greatest room in the world -- a great theater or cathedral or monument. Nobody's given me the job."

In 1980, however, he completed his great room, the Crystal Cathedral. If architects are remembered for their one-room buildings, Mr. Johnson said, "This may be it for me."

Sources

1. ↑ "Ohio, County Births, 1841-2003", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XDRR-NL2 : 8 March 2021), Philip Johnson, 1906.
2. ↑ George Haggerty, ed. (2000). Gay Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. Taylor & Francis. p. 498. ISBN 978-0-8153-1880-4.
3. ↑ Schulze, Franz (1996). Philip Johnson: Life and Work. University of Chicago Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-226-74058-4. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
4. ↑ Philip Cortelyou Johnson in the U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947.
5. ↑ Famed Architect Philip Johnson’s Hidden Nazi Past by Marc Wortman, 4 April 2015.
6. ↑ Pierce, Lisa, "Through the Looking Glass", August 1, 2010, pp 1, A4, The Advocate of Stamford, Connecticut
7. ↑ Philip Johnson in theConnecticut Death Index, 1949-2012. Name Philip Johnson Gender Male Marital Status Never Married (Single) Birth Date 8 Jul 1906 Birth Place Cleveland, Ohio Address 15 WEST 53RD Residence New York, New York, New York Death Date 25 Jan 2005 Death Place New Canaan, Connecticut Age 98 Spouse Na Father's Surname Johnson State File # 00714.
8. ↑ Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia) 27 January 2005, obit for ARCHITECT PHILIP JOHNSON DIES, GenealogyBank.com (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/obituaries/obit/10F6220195BEFC70 : accessed 19 October 2022).

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