Happy Birthday Philip Johnson 107!

Architects are amazing creatures.  They have so much power.  Not only do they control the actual physicality of a building , interior, etc but they also control how we interact with our spaces.  With American's spending 90% of their time within a structure- Architects mold our world.  Philip Johnson is no different he was a man who challenged and questioned.  He pushed things, he did epic shit- he failed he succeed. I remember the first time I discovered him; I was watching "Sketches of Frank Gehry" (my all time favorite) and immediately Googled this sweet brilliant man who's eyes twinkled when he spoke of building structures.  (I am a sucker for twinkling eyes)  Johnson has had such an incredible and significant mark on architecture- July 8th marked his 107th birthday it only felt right to celebrate a brilliant man. 

In 1979 he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture Prize.  He studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Not only was his architecutre recognized as one of the most creative and innovative for over half of a century.  Johnson help lead the modern movement, and later played a seminal role in the introduction of post-modernism and deconstructivism. He also has been called "the best-known openly gay architeci in America." Coming out publicaly in 1993.  http://www.pjararchitects.com/index.html

RIP 1906-2005