Naturally paired, but too quickly equated. Photographer Robin Hill takes on the iconic and somewhat contending Farnsworth House and Glass House in his photo series, "Side by Side: The Glass Houses of Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson". With eighteen magazine-ready spreads, Hill matches shots of each house as a “dyptych”, often aligned to show how one house’s element can be extended into the other, but with clear atmospheric differences. Other shots are paired by their similar perspectives, or proportional beauty – the hinge of the dyptychs serving as the axis of symmetry between the two houses.
The gaze in these photos isn’t critical – the goal doesn’t seem to be to declare a winner in the Glass House battle. Instead the pairings have a composed distance that seems genuinely concerned with illustrating the buildings’ co-evolutionary existence. The series takes a fresh look at these iconic, historical buildings to consider why they appear so similar in the first place, and then bring out the details that distinguishes them.
As photographer Robin Hill puts it, "if the two were songs then Farnsworth would be 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and the Glass House would be 'The Boxer'."
Hill's Side by Side: The Glass Houses of Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson is on display for sale at the Four Seasons Restaurant in Mies’ Seagram Building in New York City from June 22 - September 20. Half of all proceeds will go towards restoration efforts for both houses.
Check out the whole series of dyptychs in the image gallery below.
3 Comments
philip johnson was the worlds biggest dilettante. unofficial history was that he boosted an early sketch from mies and built it before he could.. you know, those pesky clients slowing things down. funny aside, johnson had to build a completely enclosed brick house on the property for his homosexual encounters. either way that thing is unlivable it is a folly at best.
^Most everything on Johnson’s estate was an experiment. Don’t think the “livability” of either is any different than a glass enclosed high-rise condo in any major city…perhaps more livable base on environs.
A good friend of mine worked for Johnson is his last active years. We got to visit the glass house while Johnson was actively using it. It was in early March and there was fresh snow on the ground. The first thing I noticed stepping into it was that it was heated by a radiant floor. I always wondered how he heated it. PJ had at that time already donated it to Landmarks Preservation, although he intended to occupy it until the end, which he did. We were led around by a docent-in-training. I noticed in the bathroom that the shower curtain was wet and the soap dish still had fresh soap bubbles in it, a sign he was still using the house.
Another eccentricity the docent pointed out was that the large wooded site had no underbrush. Johnson had landscape contractors clear and maintain the entire property. We couldn't go into the guesthouse because he had a caretaker living in it. At his advanced age, he needed someone to keep an eye on him, which wasn't hard to do. living in a glass box as he did. He was a bit crazy, which is what it took to actually live in a house like that.
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