The Man in the Glass House: Philip Johnson. Architect of the Modern Century

A smoothly written and fair-minded (Wall Street Journal) biography of architect Philip Johnson--a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle Award When Philip Johnson died in 2005 at the age of 98 he was still one of the most recognizable--and influential--figures on the American cultural landscape. The first recipient of the Pritzker Prize and MoMA's founding architectural curator Johnson made his mark as one of America's leading architects with his famous Glass House in New Caanan CT and his controversial AT&T Building in NYC among many others in nearly every city in the country--but his most natural role was as a consummate power broker and shaper of public opinion.Johnson introduced European modernism--the sleek glass-and-steel architecture that now dominates our cities--to America and mentored generations of architects designers and artists to follow. He defined the era of starchitecture with its flamboyant buildings and celebrity designers who esteemed aesthetics and style above all other concerns. But Johnson was also a man of deep paradoxes: he was a Nazi sympathizer a designer of synagogues an enfant terrible into his old age a populist and a snob. His clients ranged from the Rockefellers to televangelists to Donald Trump.Award-winning architectural critic and biographer Mark Lamster's The Man in the Glass House lifts the veil on Johnson's controversial and endlessly contradictory life to tell the story of a charming yet deeply flawed man. A rollercoaster tale of the perils of wealth privilege and ambition this book probes the dynamics of American culture that made him so powerful and tells the story of the built environment in modern America. Hardcover: 528 pagesPublisher: Little Brown and Company; 1st Edition edition (November 6 2018)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 0316126438ISBN-13: 978-0316126434 Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.8 x 9.6 inches Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds