Over fifty years ago, the "Harvard Five" architects descended upon New Canaan, CT to build houses for themselves and their clients. These architects, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Eliot Noyes, and Philip Johnson designed some of the most famous modern houses all within the same small town. The town of New Canaan became the center of modern architecture, creating homes that changed peoples' perception about the true nature of a house.
[...] Early in his career Johnson was fascinated with the use of glass by German architects of the 1910s and 1920s, who used new technology to make glass the focal point of their buildings. However, the real idea for The Glass House came from Mies van der Rohe. In 1947 Mies sketched designs for the Farnsworth House, which was a home made entirely of glass. Johnson adopted this idea, but knew he needed to create something that was more than just the material building; he needed to design a structure that would “exercise an extraordinary power over the imagination of professional and layperson alike.”[2] When one simply looks at a picture of the house, they are immediately stunned that this of glass” can be considered a house. [...]
[...] The Glass House: Designed by Philip Johnson New Canaan, CT (1949) Over fifty years ago, the “Harvard Five” architects descended upon New Canaan, CT to build houses for themselves and their clients. These architects, Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, Eliot Noyes, and Philip Johnson designed some of the most famous modern houses all within the same small town. The town of New Canaan became the center of modern architecture, creating homes that changed peoples' perception about the true nature of a house. [...]
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