12 Quotes & Sayings By Philip Johnson

Philip Johnson was a prominent 20th century architect whose widely exhibited architecture has been characterized as both innovative and radical. His buildings have been interpreted as reaching toward, or recoiling from, the past. Born in New York City in 1908, Johnson studied architecture at Columbia University under Louis Kahn. He served in the navy during World War II and returned to New York in 1946 Read more

He married Marcel Breuer in 1948.

1
Architecture is basically the design of interiors, the art of organizing interior space. Philip Johnson
2
All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space. Philip Johnson
3
Architecture is the art of how to waste space. Philip Johnson
4
All architects want to live beyond their deaths. Philip Johnson
5
There's no such thing as old age. I'm no different now than I was 50 years ago. I'm just having more fun. Philip Johnson
6
Architecture is art, nothing else. Philip Johnson
7
The future of architecture is culture. Philip Johnson
8
Concrete you can mold, you can press it into - after all, you haven't any straight lines in your body. Why should we have straight lines in our architecture? You'd be surprised when you go into a room that has no straight line - how marvelous it is that you can feel the walls talking back to you, as it were. Philip Johnson
9
I wish someone would ask me to design a cathedral. Philip Johnson
10
I like the thought that what we are to do on this earth is embellish it for its greater beauty, so that oncoming generations can look back to the shapes we leave here and get the same thrill that I get in looking back at theirs - at the Parthenon, at Chartres Cathedral. Philip Johnson
11
Don't build a glass house if you're worried about saving money on heating. Philip Johnson