:Michael Moran - The evolution of the book - "Philip Johnson's Glass House" : arcspace.com

Michael Moran
The evolution of the book
Philip Johnson's Glass House

For years, every time I met with Toshio Nakamura, then editor-in-chief of A+U, we would discuss a special edition on the work of Philip Johnson. Originally, the special edition was intended to be a monograph, and we discussed a list of approximately fifteen built projects around the US to be photographed. Eventually Nakamura decided that the special edition should focus on only the Glass House in New Caanan. At that point, Nakamura left A+U, and approached his old friend Tadahiro Yoshida, Chairman of the YKK Corporation and head of the Architectural Products Division, to finance the book as a privately published promotion for the company. Yoshida agreed, and the Glass House project became the second book produced by YKK/AP. On the suggestion of Philip Johnson, we approached Michael Rock and Susan Sellers of 2x4 to design the book. Penelope Harding of 2x4 was assigned the project.

The photography took two years, evolving through experimentation with film types and processing. Initially, all of the photography was in black and white, until one Fall day when Nakamura returned from a visit to the Glass House, excited about the extraordinary color of the foliage. Color photography began the next day, in a dense fog typical of Connecticut at that time of the year. Eventually, it was decided to include both color and black and white photographs in the book, as well as sections on the various pavilions and both design and as-built drawings. The finished book, structured as a narrative based on a statement by Philip Johnson, was printed in an edition of 1500 and sent to clients of YKK/AP and various individuals in the architectural community.

Photographing
On a cold Winter day, working around the perimeter of the property so as not to leave footprints in the snow, exhilarated but shivering, it was a relief to go into the house and thaw my feet on the warm bricks. In the Summer, ducking in to get out of the sun, to use the bathroom, to make a phone call, to have lunch, again I experienced the place as a refuge. In the Spring and Fall, when the sunlight stretched deep across the floor, I would work inside in the morning and late afternoon. In the middle of the day, when the light was dead, I sometimes sat in one of the chairs, looked at the Poussin and at the landscape beyond and thought about the man who lived in this house and about his way of living. Getting up my nerve, I peeked inside a few cabinets to verify that indeed there was no TV, no radio, no stereo, and no best-seller novels. Only clothes and a few dishes, the two artworks, the furniture that you see in these photographs, a few books (at this time it was a book on the Merritt Parkway and Rem Koolhaas' S,M.L,XL), a phone, and the landscape beyond.

The landscape: a precise, tilted plane and a leap off the edge, projects realized and unrealized, ideas, the world. To the North the art galleries, East up a slope past the Brick Guest House to a stone wall, South past the Nadelman sculpture to the Study, West across the trees to infinity and the setting sun. As I experienced this house as a nexus of light and order, as refuge and inspiration, I wondered at its life in the public imagination as an evocation of self-exposure and vulnerability. But then, I never slept there, only daydreamed.

Thanks to Debby Green for her help in the early going, and to Kasan Mantel for his long hours in the darkroom. Although I didn't follow through on his admonition to "photograph every square centimeter", I'm grateful to Toshio Nakamura for the freedom he gave me to explore the Glass House in my own way, and to Michael Rock and 2x4 for their ingenious design. Thanks, of course, to Mr. Yoshida, and to Philip Johnson for his beautiful work, for his trust in me, and for his open-ended invitation to shoot anytime, Monday through Thursday.
Michael Moran

Michael Moran arcspace features





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		Michael Moran The evolution of the book Philip Johnson's Glass House For years, every time I met with Toshio Nakamura, then editor-in-chief of A+U, we would discuss a special edition on the work of Philip Johnson. Originally, the special edition was intended to be a monograph, and we discussed a list of approximately fifteen built projects around the US to be photographed. Eventually Nakamura decided that the special edition should focus on only the Glass House in New Caanan. At that point, Nakamura left A+U, and approached his old friend Tadahiro Yoshida, Chairman of the YKK Corporation and head of the Architectural Products Division, to finance the book as a privately published promotion for the company. Yoshida agreed, and the Glass House project became the second book produced by YKK/AP. On the suggestion of Philip Johnson, we approached Michael Rock and Susan Sellers of 2x4 to design the book. Penelope Harding of 2x4 was assigned the project. The photography took two years, evolving through experimentation with film types and processing. Initially, all of the photography was in black and white, until one Fall day when Nakamura returned from a visit to the Glass House, excited about the extraordinary color of the foliage. Color photography began the next day, in a dense fog typical of Connecticut at that time of the year. Eventually, it was decided to include both color and black and white photographs in the book, as well as sections on the various pavilions and both design and as-built drawings. The finished book, structured as a narrative based on a statement by Philip Johnson, was printed in an edition of 1500 and sent to clients of YKK/AP and various individuals in the architectural community. Photographing On a cold Winter day, working around the perimeter of the property so as not to leave footprints in the snow, exhilarated but shivering, it was a relief to go into the house and thaw my feet on the warm bricks. In the Summer, ducking in to get out of the sun, to use the bathroom, to make a phone call, to have lunch, again I experienced the place as a refuge. In the Spring and Fall, when the sunlight stretched deep across the floor, I would work inside in the morning and late afternoon. In the middle of the day, when the light was dead, I sometimes sat in one of the chairs, looked at the Poussin and at the landscape beyond and thought about the man who lived in this house and about his way of living. Getting up my nerve, I peeked inside a few cabinets to verify that indeed there was no TV, no radio, no stereo, and no best-seller novels. Only clothes and a few dishes, the two artworks, the furniture that you see in these photographs, a few books (at this time it was a book on the Merritt Parkway and Rem Koolhaas' S,M.L,XL), a phone, and the landscape beyond. The landscape: a precise, tilted plane and a leap off the edge, projects realized and unrealized, ideas, the world. To the North the art galleries, East up a slope past the Brick Guest House to a stone wall, South past the Nadelman sculpture to the Study, West across the trees to infinity and the setting sun. As I experienced this house as a nexus of light and order, as refuge and inspiration, I wondered at its life in the public imagination as an evocation of self-exposure and vulnerability. But then, I never slept there, only daydreamed. Thanks to Debby Green for her help in the early going, and to Kasan Mantel for his long hours in the darkroom. Although I didn't follow through on his admonition to "photograph every square centimeter", I'm grateful to Toshio Nakamura for the freedom he gave me to explore the Glass House in my own way, and to Michael Rock and 2x4 for their ingenious design. Thanks, of course, to Mr. Yoshida, and to Philip Johnson for his beautiful work, for his trust in me, and for his open-ended invitation to shoot anytime, Monday through Thursday. Michael Moran Michael Moran arcspace features