Modernism on the East Coast – Philip Johnson and the Harvard Five

Admirers of 20thCentury architecture can visit unique landmarks of Midcentury Modern architecture on the east coast this spring.  The tour is organized by The Iconic Houses and will tour 11 properties in and around New Canaan CT;  three are museums (The Glass House, Manitoga and Marcel Breuer House) while the others are private residences. May 15-18.

In the 1940s, a group of five architects from Harvard, inspired by the ideas of Bauhaus, settled in New Canaan, CT, where they stirred up an experimental modernist movement in the sleepy New England town. These unique homes will be the focus of the conference house tours where experts will offer insights about the role of architect Philip Johnson and the Harvard Five in Architectural History of the 20th century. There are also visits to private masterpieces in and around New Canaan that are generally unavailable to the general public. 

Full program and booking details can be found here: Glass House

The house ushered the International Style into residential American architecture. It is iconic because of its innovative use of materials and its seamless integration into the landscape. Philip Johnson, who lived in the Glass House from 1949 until his death in 2005, conceived of it as half a composition, completed by the Brick House. Both buildings were designed in 1945-48.

The Glass House has commissioned three different snowglobes of the house from CoolSnowGlobes – including a limited edition Kusama globe with red dots falling.

The original was featured in the Wall Street Journal among other places, and The  Glass House Shop (and webstore) is the exclusive venue for purchasing. 

For more information: The Glass House