Case Study Analysis:Farnsworth House &

The Glass House

Jenny Diaz

FARNSWORTH HOUSE

Mies Van Der Rohe - ArchitectEdith Farnsworth - ClientPlano IllinoisElevated (avoid flooding from near by river)Architecture & NatureA place to escape to and relax

49Built 1949

GLASS HOUSE

51Built 1951

Philip Johnson - ArchitectPhilip Johnson - ClientNew Canan ConnecticutPlanted on groundBrown brick & black steel frameA place to be comfortable as oneself

"Mies talks about "free space", but his space isvery fixed". (3.13)

"Promoting the mystical idea that "less ismore"...they are promoting unlivabiltiy,stripped-down emptiness, lack of storage spaceand therefroe lack of possessions". (3.13)

"The guest house appears to be a windowlessbunker a defensible space of intimacy as well asa "closet". (3.22)

"This house with its four walls of glass, I feel like aprowling animal, always on the alert". (3.13)

"A form of exhibitionism". (3.17)"The house appeared to be a fish bowl in whichhis life was put on display for all to see". (3.22)

"I can't even put a clothes hanger in my housewithout considering how it affects everything fromthe outside". (3.13)

"The idea of a glass house, where somebody justmight be looking-naturally, you don't want themto be looking. But what about it? That little edgeof danger in being caught". (3.17)

"Farnsworth had very little of a "private life" toconceal: as a single woman, the only thing thatcould possibly be worth hiding was her nightgown, the sign for her body". (3.16)

"The cylindrical brick chimney at the core of theglass house makes an obvious & clearly ironicreference to the architecture of the traditionalAmerican family home and to the sentimentalizedview of domesticity". (3.22)

"Unlike Johnson's glass house, which featuresclusters of large and small objects throughoutthe interior and doorways on all four walls, theinterior of the Farnsworth house in unrelenting inits ordered geometry - & this was somethingFarnsworth discovered only through living in thehouse over time". (3.17)

"For Johnson, who unlike Farnsworth had asophisticated grasp of architectural language,there was no question that each element in thedesign had a carefully constructed meaning".(3.22)

"A bitterly fought struggle over who was, andwho was not, a "normal" American, a member of afamily, living life in the "right" way. Just as EdithFarnsworth confronted these issues, so did PhilipJohnson". (3.21)

"Service core becomes a diagram of the houseas a machine, the kitchen and the back-to-backbathrooms stand in a logical, utilitarianrelationship to one another". (3.24)

"Metaphoric, discursive & picturesque, thedomestic landscape encourage movementthrough the space". (3.24)