Glass House, Historic house museum in New Canaan, United States
Glass House is a single-storey rectangular pavilion in New Canaan, United States, now a historic house museum. Its flat roof and thin black steel frame hold fully glazed walls between vertical mullions. Inside, a reddish-brown brick cylinder containing the bathroom and fireplace rises through the roof as a chimney, the only element reaching floor to ceiling.
Philip Johnson designed and constructed this residence in 1949 as his own home on a property outside the town. The structure emerged after years of studying European architecture and went on to influence decades of American building design.
The name derives from the fully transparent glass walls that make the building appear like a pavilion set in the landscape. Visitors walking through the space notice how the view shifts with every step, dissolving the boundary between living area and nature.
The site sits on an extensive private estate accessible only during guided tours. Comfortable shoes work well since guests explore both interior spaces and outdoor paths connecting several pavilions across the grounds.
The architect lived in this house until his death in 2005 and used the grounds simultaneously as a laboratory for new designs. Additional buildings arose over the decades on the same property, forming together a collection of experimental architecture.
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