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"Stimmung" at : Counters Mies Van Der Rohe Author(s): Phyllis Lambert Source: Grey Room, No. 20 (Summer, 2005), pp. 38-59 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20442686 . Accessed: 05/09/2014 12:49

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| 1~~~~~~~~~~1 II *~~~~~~~~~~~~i 11. Disp&y lighs (top) in Seagramon Result: were deagoedfor executive one of the bet-iuminated meetingro, disappearinto buildingsever constructed. ciling whn not inus They tumnme endmeetingof room 13. Ls.boue oeAs form intoeffeci stage. a conthfnus11%-foot-wlde baudamund the perimeter of 12. I*vL lihtseourc thebuilding. 0m (above) (centerrow above) were used w designedby Ketlmhum through buidig. Here & Sharp for 0. E. Me theyepiU a' wash of light Inte Inc, showsmodua over ceference-roomwalls, ceilinggrid in metnide offme sodmake ! ot o ght on and corridr,plus a low conferencet ightng brightnmsytm for 140. Consulant , dor okcesaes. Thi0xyol 1? coUahorte with LigtingL providesmexlent ligbtSt DedgeerBdine Frio%ud desk surfaces,Each nMil r coneaed lightwnxma to il tmelm1inou ceIlg band I* luminxmaMezecad dev lit up on .ery fkoor,I,_o torslack in lobb, and to videsa dramaticapectke mm lightpaInting asd tapertrie Ifanaluban'skyr line (Ib)

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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. , New York, 1954-1958. From Architectural Forum 109 (July1958). Photos: George Cserna, Alexandre Georges, Ezra Stoller ? Esto.

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This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions timninung at Seagram:n PhiipJonson ounters ies aner Rohe S~~~~~~~ _ 1 PHYLLIS LAMBERT

By his own account, Philip Johnson's eyes filled with tears when Mies van der Rohe offered him a partnership as coarchitect of the Seagram Building: "Shall we make itVan der Rohe and Johnson?"' But ironically, although he had been an acolyte ofMies, Johnson was just beginning to break away, to develop his own approach to architecture. Addressing themodalities of Johnson's evolution, this essay draws on new research for a forthcoming book on the building of the Seagram headquarters in New York. The material belongs to a chapter on the design of Seagram as "Ur-building," in.which I go beyond my own long-held assumptions in denying Johnson a significant role in the building's design to reveal some little-discussed aspects of his remarkable contribution to the pro ject. As the book is based on my own involvement with Seagram from 1954 to the present as Director of Planning and "client," it is ofclourse a highly personal account. My method has been to use brainstorming techniques to set aside familiar assumptions and tap intomy own enor mous bank ofmemories and to consider these in light of the historical documents-my files and papers, letters and texts written at the time, documents in the Seagram archives, an extensive bibliographical data base of articles on the building-as well as thewritings ofMies, Philip, and others. The process has led to a number of insights that have in turn opened up fresh lines of investigation thatmight well not have been undertaken otherwise.

Gesamtkunstwerk From the outset, Philip Johnson was interested in the Seagram Building as Gesamtkunstwerk, a synthesis of elements that results in a work of "total Alfred Barr, director of the Museum of Modern Art indeed,awithotherexibiin"ahneAt.htoeedidesign." 94 h (MoMA) inNew York, had oriented him in this direction in 1932 when he suggested putting on an industrial design exhibition. The next year, while Johnson was the first director of the department of architecture Gr Rom 2 Sumer200appand thedesi5n." industrial Al205frey arts, BarrBroo, asserted dirctoond M that tssac his programusetsniute "would ofTMhodern be of equal 39t importance to anything [that] we do in painting or sculpture, and,

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions museum gained a reputationfor establishing standards in design. Before I selectedMies as architectfor the Seagram Building, Philip tookme to Philadelphia tovisit Howe and Lescaze's Philadelphia Saving Fund Societybuilding (1929-1932).There Philip commentedon theattention paid to the interior in relation to the exterior of the building. While I recall that his appreciation of the interior was greater than his interest in the exterior,Philip considered thisDepression-era work tobe the epitomeof "totaldesign." Philip,who knew thatMies's primaryconcern was thearticulation of structure,form, and material, quickly grasped the factthat Seagram presented an unusual opportunity to improve on many of the standard industrialdesign elementsused in officebuildings: doors, elevator cabs, hardware, lightingand plumbing fixtures,and roompartitions, as well as letteringand signage.Johnson reserved this role forhimself, but his contribution to Seagram would prove to be even more far-reaching than he could have foreseen,eventually expanding to include the design of entireoffice floors, lighting strategies for the whole building, thedis play of artwork, the fountains on the plaza, and the design of the great rooms thatmerged with thepublic space at theplaza level.Philip used powerfultheatrical effects to interiorizethe dramatic exterior substance ofMies's building. Six months after Seagram opened in January 1958, the July issue of ArchitecturalForum carried a firstglimpse of thecompleted building. Surprisingly,the article focused on Philip's intentions."Seagram's Custom Look: 13New Ideas forBetter SkyscraperDesign," was an unsigned, nuts-and-boltspiece written fora trademagazine. The Forum critic called Seagram "a half-million square foot laboratory inwhich new and special officedesigns arebeing testedin actual use," creditingthe archi tectswith refusing "to accept a standard material or standard method if theycould seeways of improvingit."3 The numerouspragmatically cap tioned illustrationsstressed thoseelements destined tobecome part of commercial product lines, "a whole catalogue of innovations thatmay soon affectoffice building design throughoutthe U.S." The Forum critic capturedPhilip's intentionsand inadvertentlypointed up the stateof the building art in the late 1950s. Two of the thirteen"new ideas"were rooted inMies's fundamental architecturalconception and language: thebronze and glass curtain wall and Seagram'sair-conditioning system, which "made floor-to-ceiling glasswalls practicalfor the first time." However, one could easily imagine thatPhilip was theForum critic'samanuensis, because theother eleven "new ideas"were Philip's: controlledVenetian blinds, "specially designed to stop inonly threepositions," producing "fayade patterns that always lookneat"; "floor-to-ceilingdoors" that"added nothingto thecost," and

40 GreyRoo 20

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions were made to "look like integralparts of [the]paneling," giving the "interiorsgreater unity"; movable floor-to-ceilingpartitions, stock itemsredesigned and "greatlysimplified in detail" forSeagram; floor-to ceiling elevatordoors revealingthe custom-designed panels ofan inter woven stainlesssteel and bronzemesh liningthe elevator cabs; signage ina serifedEgyptian Bold fontdesigned by Elaine Lustig foruse through out thebuilding; custom faucetsand otherwashroom fittings;and door handles and signal hardware fabricated inbrushed aluminum and stainlesssteel at a "very,very, minimal" cost over top-qualityhardware, according to themanufacturer. The floor-to-ceilingtravertine slabs foran executive washroom allowed theForum critic to discuss the ceiling grid and custom designed fixtures.However, therewas nomention of the factthat this was clearly not a stock itembut instead derived froma sumptuous Johnsonianconcept fora travertineroom. In fact,it introduceda new Philip Johnson,one who had begun to lavish richand sensuousmate rialson bathrooms.Already in the late1940s he had used leather"tiles" to line the walls of the circular bathroom of his own Glass House, forminga warm, tactileskin thatexuded amusk-like scent.Ten years lateranother critic described themen's andwomen's washrooms Philip designed for the Four Seasons restaurant as "palaces," "the former in BardiglioFiorioto marble andMacassar ebony,the latterin Rose Portas, rosewood,and gold Fortuny[cloth] with theatricalvanities surrounded by [low-wattage]bulbs ... [with]marble shelves containingashtrays adjoining each stool."4 The lastpage of theArchitectural Forum articlewas devoted to three "new ideas" in lighting.A groupingof small imagespointed tocertain specific lightingeffects employed in theSeagram Company officesas well as in other spaces in the building: display lights that disappear into theceiling when not being used; and "invisible" or "concealed light sources" that "spill a wash of light over conference-room walls, and make a pool of light on [a] conference table." One passage commented on the role of lighting designers-a profession, Imay add, that was undeveloped as an art form at the time: "Lighting Consultant Richard Kelly, in collaborationwith LightingDesigner Edison Price,used con cealed lightsources to illuminate [the]marble-faced elevator stack in [the]lobby, and to lightpaintings and tapestriesin [the]Seagram offices. Result: one of thebest-illuminated buildings ever constructed."To illustrate this last of "13 New Ideas forBetter Skyscraper Design," a half page was devoted towhat must at the time have been an astounding image of the Seagram Building. The Forum critic concluded with an evocative description that took in the urban context: "Each night, the luminousceiling band is litup on everyfloor, [and] provides a dramatic

tamer XstmmuSgat -in:PTopgpJohnson counters es van derRoe 41

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions spectacleon Manhattan's sky line."Philip's involvementwith all aspects of thelighting for Seagram, though unacknowledged by theForum critic, is a pivotal part ofmy story. Lewis Mumford, whose "Lessons of theMaster" appeared in his "SkyLine" column inThe New Yorkeron 13 September1958, summed up his critical assessment of theeffect of theSeagram Building shaft, theplaza, and the lighting: Itneeds no ornamental fixturesother than those ithas in order to increase thishuman quality [serenity];all itneeds-and it already has these, both by day and by night-is people capable of enjoying theprimal aesthetic pleasures: ordered space, air, the spray of fountains on one's face, and sunlight or the regal mixture ofblack and gold thatgreets one fromthe lightedbuild ingat night.5 Mumford alluded to thedifferent hands in thedesign: In accounting forthe qualities thatdistinguish thisedifice, one is safe in assuming thatthey derive, directly or indirectly,from the Master himself.To acknowledge this is not todiminish thecon tributionmade by his associate, Philip Johnson,an avowed ifby now an independentdisciple.6 Within tendays of thepublication ofMumford's piece, Iwrote tohim: You mightbe interestedin knowing who didwhat.... Philip played a veryminor roleuntil Mies suggestedthat the building would be nice litup atnight. Then came theridiculous business aboutMies's license and Mies went back toChicago. At thatpoint Philip's officetook over.7 From the end ofDecember 1955 until early February1957, Philip Johnsonwas legallythe sole principalarchitect of theSeagram Building. Mies felt himself to be driven fromNew York at the end of 1955 when his application forprofessional membership in theNew York State chapterof theAmerican Instituteof Architects (AIA)was refusedon the grounds thathe had not provided evidence of an acceptablehigh school diploma. The AIA refusaldemonstrated a lackof architecturalculture, at least in the bureaucratic levels of the AIA, and also showed the resis tance thatemigres from Europe encountered in professionalorganiza tions inNew York State during the1940s and 1950s. For Philip, who had only recentlyleft MoMA toopen his own office,Mies's physical absencegave him a newfoundauthority that enhanced his growingsense of assuredness as an architect.Although he soughtMies's approval on allmajor design decisions, Philip was now in charge of theoffice,

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This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions and he remainedso even after Mies's license applicationwas accepted by July1956. From W>o-M thenon Mies "visited"the office K_O ratherthan headed it. Left in charge early in 1956 Philip beganwork on the light ingand twoautonomous inte O O I r~~~~~~~------' rior spaces in the Seagram Building: executive officesfor theSeagram Company and the restaurantMies asked him to design-or, as Philip put it, Philip Johnson. "gave up" tohim.8 The Four Seasons was installed in theground floor Brick Guest House, of the low eastwing, within thefree-span volumes Mies had created at New Canaan, Connecticut Top: Plan of 1949. each end.With theexception of the lighting,the "good design"elements Bottom: Plan of 1953. Philip contributedto Seagram (those lauded by theForum critic)con stitutea body of two-dimensionalelements applied to the surface planes of thebuilding. They affectperception of thebuilding rather thanits essence. However, therestaurant Johnson designed, still unseen in 1958,would come tohave an importancethat exceeded what anyone could have imagined. With theFour Seasons Philip achieved theultimate Gesamtkunstwerk inwhich theatricalinterior effects are locked into reciprocitywith Mies's structurallanguage. Furthermore, the offices forthe Seagram Companyand thelighting design for the building, although treated matter of-factlyin thepages ofArchitectural Forum and also bymyself in the above-mentionedletter to Mumford, were highlydistinctive. It is ironic thatPhilip made his most significantcontributions to theSeagram Building justas he was moving away fromMies and beginning to find his own voice.

Light Philip's firstconstructed move away fromMies occurred during the remodelingof a bedroom ofhis BrickGuest House, conceived as a foil tohis Glass House atNew Canaan, Connecticut. In 1966Henry-Russell Hitchcock remarkedon thisshift,9 and thirtyyears laterPhilip himself confirmedit, calling theinsertion of a vaulted ceiling in thebrick build ing "my firstbreak fromthe InternationalStyle."10 In 1953, fouryears afterit was finished,Philip remodeled two of the threerooms of the GuestHouse, formingone long,narrow space inwhich he hung a series ofcanopied plastervaults fromthe ceiling, carrying them to theground on thin"pilasters."

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 43

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The insertionof thevaults came out of discussions with Dick Kelly,my lightingman. Lightingfrom around a concealed roof [sic] gives a won derful lightin theroom. Having got thatidea straight,then I thoughtat once of JohnSoane's breakfastroom at his house inLondon.... This is the first time I used that vault.... It's a copy of Sir John Soane. It's the firsttime I used anythingas defi nitelyhistorical as that.1

Philip lateradmitted thatthe solu tion had more to do with Robert Adam's remodelingof the longnarrow space of theLibrary at Syon House.12 Much has been made of Johnson'suse ofhistorical sources,begin PhilipJohnson. Bedroom of ning with his now famousArchitectural Review article of 1950, in Brick Guest House, 1953. Photo: Ezra Stoller C Esto. which he cited thesources forthe design, composition, and sitingof the houses atNew Canaan.'3 In addition toclaiming Mies as his generative model, Johnsonreferred to Mies's contemporariesVan Doesberg, Le Corbusier, andMalevich on the relationshipof forms,and toMies's "mentor"Karl FriedrichSchinkel forthe "pure neo-classical Romantic more specificallySchinkelesque" way of sitingbuildings. He attributed toClaude Nicholas Ledoux the idea of separatingthe functions of Glass House and Guest House intotwo absolute cubic forms,14pointed to the influenceof nineteenth-centuryhistorian Auguste Choisy's analysis ofmovement at theAcropolis atAthens, and quixotically,always want ing to surprise,Philip linkedhis own interestin bucolic settingsand eighteenth-centuryBritish models to the obscure estate ofCount Puckler in Silesia.15 Johnsonhad begun to learnabout architecture based on a curriculum laid out for him by Alfred Barr at the end of the 1920s, when Johnson made a close, firsthandstudy of both historical and contemporary architecturein Europe. However, on his own in 1930, Johnsonfocused on Mies, and then in 1930 and 1931 with his recent acquaintance, Henry-RussellHitchcock, he visited and studiedwork by Schinkel. Hitchcockwas influentialin orientingPhilip towardthe aesthetic and perceptual aspects ofarchitecture, and even encouragedhim topursue a doctorate(a short-livedproject) on Schinkel'smost brilliantand eclec tic follower,Ludwig Persius. The work ofboth Persius and Schinkel surely legitimizedJohnson's own departurefrom Miesian modernism.

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Karl Friedrich Schinkel. But referringto models did not constitutea "break"with Mies. Mies Bedroom designed himselfdiscussed historicalexamples: thestructure of medieval barns forQueen Luise, Charlottenburg, Berlin, andGothic cathedrals;Schinkel's Altes Museum inBerlin (fromwhich 1809-1810. Stiftung he said "you could learneverything in architecture");16and afterseeing PreussischerSchlosser the"careful construction, absolutely honest" work ofHendrik Petrus und Garten Berlin Brandenburg. Photograph Berlage,he recalled: "AfterI returnedfrom Holland [19101I foughtwith 1920-1930. myself toget away fromthe Schinkel-classicism."17 Itwas thedifference of intentionthat would constitutethe break. Mies's models were tectonic; Johnson'swere sensuallyevocative. The drama of thedecor atNew Canaan struckme on firstvisiting Johnson'sdomain in the summerof 1954. The brick and glass houses and theirsetting had a palpable presence andwere highlysensual. An ecstatic aura pervaded the guest room. One was not aware of entering a tall,narrow, windowless, tomblikespace but ratherwas captivatedby theglow of lightwashing thesandlike expanse ofpink, silver,and gold Fortunycloth coveringthe enclosing walls. Thrning theknob of a sub stantial dimmer box at the head of the bed-an early use of this new technology-one had the sense of nightfall in thedesert, under the vaulted canopy-a shelteringfirmament-as the lightgradually faded. I realizenow thatanother model was lodgeddeep inPhilip's psyche. Even thoughPhilip seems never tohave referredto any but British sources forthis room, he must have knownanother room with thesame sense ofenclosure, curtained walls, andmagical lighting:the bed cham berKarl FriedrichSchinkel designedbetween 1809 and 1810 forQueen Luise at Schloss Charlottenburgin Berlin, which was open to thepub lic from1918 throughat least1937.18 Barry Bergdoll's description of this remarkablechamber intensifiesthe comparison with thebedroom of Johnson'sGuest House: By thesimple means ofwhite muslin stretchedover rose-papered walls, lightwas reflectedand filteredthrough the material tocreate theglowing effect of [the]sunrise, breaking down theboundaries

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 45

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betweennature and architecture,and testingin concrete terms ... Top: Philip Johnson. thecapacity ofvisual art to evoke specificmoods, emotions,and Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1949. statesof mind.19 Night view, c. 1960. Photo: Alexandre Georges. The same light-magicexperienced inside theGuest House was conjured Bottom, left:Philip Johnson. up in theglass pavilion everyevening, as the induced lightwould slowly Glass House, New Canaan, riseand fadeamong thesurrounding trees. Philip called this landscape Connecticut, 1949. his continuallychanging wallpaper. Added to thisluminous experience Interiorview at night, c. 1952. From Zodiac 8 (1961). were effectsmanifested within theglass walls. Against thedark brick Photo: Ezra Stoller C Esto. floorand largebrick cylinder connecting floorand ceiling, uplights Bottom, right:Nicolas reflectingoff the ceiling cast a glow overPoussin's Landscape with the Poussin. Landscape with Body ofPhocion Carried Out ofAthens restingon itseasel. And by 1954, theBody of Phocion froma Johnson-designedfloor lamp (placed next to aMies-designed Carried out of Athens, c. 1648. Collection of couch) emanated a softpool of light.20The glow of the fireplaceadded Philip Johnson. atmospherein cold weather. The strikingimage of the-steel-framedstructure poised on a plateau at theedge of a precipice, theview framedby thestructure of theGlass House, and the trees and valley beyond are reminiscent of Karl FriedrichSchinkel's evocativeearly paintings such as Landscape with GothicArcades of1812, which Philip,who foundSchinkel to be "almostas good a painteras Casper David Friedrich,""must have known.Likewise,

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Poussin'sPhocion, installedat thespiritual center of thehouse, resonateswith the peopled landscape and architecturalele ments of Schinkel's Antique City on a Mountain (1805):both situatea storyand embed a particularview in thetopography of theearth.22 Poussin's landscape,evoking Schinkel's view, can be seen as the ideal forthe site of theGlass House,which Philip stroveover theyears todistance fromthe ,;g actual topographyof theConnecticut woods. Itreveals the extent to which Schinkelwas on Philip'smind. Clearly,Philip's break fromMies was fedby theSchinkel connection they shared butunderstood very differently. This break Top: Philip Johnson. was instrumentalizedthrough lighting design, not onlybecause Mies's Glass House, New Canaan, architectonicapproach was out of reach forhim, but also because it lay Connecticut, 1949. Interior view during the day, c. 1960. outsidehis own concerns,which were onlybeginning to surface.These From Zodiac 8 (1961). concernswere nurturedby his hauntingmemory of theHofgartnerei in Photo: Alexandre Georges. Potsdam in 1930: "the creationof emotional space by such casual and Bottom: Karl Friedrich eclecticmeans."23 Through thecontrol of artificialillumination, Philip Schinkel. Landscape with Gothic Arcades, 1812. could bringtogether the pictorialism and atmosphericromanticism that Stiftung Preussischer he foundin Schinkel within the tectonics Mies so admiredin Schinkel, the Schlosser und Garten "wonderfulconstructions, excellent proportions and good detailing."24 Berlin-Brandenburg. Schinkel became forMies "thegreatest building master of classicism [representing]the end ofan old and thebeginning of a new time."25For Philip, theAltes Museum "is Schinkel'smost restrainedand classical building.The Hofgartnereiin Potsdam is romantic.Schinkel theclassi cist-Schinkel theromantic-both appeal tous."26

11111

The introductionin North America afterWorld War II of buildings enclosed by glass walls created new lightingproblems forarchitects and lightingdesigners: solid enclosingwalls thatacted as reflectingsur faceswere replacedby largesheets of glass thatappeared black at night. This troubledPhilip Johnsonwhen he firstmoved intohis Glass House: "Therewas no light-other thanthe sun. You can imaginethe problem of reflections[at night]. Ifyou had one bulb you saw SiX."27Richard Kelly, thearchitectural lighting designer and illuminationengineer for theSeagram Building, developed thesolution. Philip saidKelly "founded theart of residentiallighting the day he designed lightingfor the glass

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 47

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house."28He might have said thatKelly developed a new artof lighting fora new architecturallanguage. Kelly's techniquefor lighting the Glass House, which mightbe taken forgranted today,must have seemed revolutionaryto the readers of journalsin themid-1940s. In thefirst sentence of one ofhis earliestarti cles fromthat time he states that"good lightingis a vital part of good living,"proposing to eliminate glare that tires the eye "by diffusing brightsources, by shieldingthe sources of light,[and] by arrangingfor a proper relationbetween brightobjects and theirsurroundings." He demonstratedhow these effectscould create drama, even in a living room (albeitLily Dache's livingroom), where "noticeablyfree of glare and sharpcontrasts, the general lightingis indirect-fromsources sub tlyconcealed," where certainobjects likeplants "are sharplysilhouet tedby baby spotlights,[and where] sculpturesare made to reflectlight ... lightingcan create drama."29By 1950, in an obscure periodical called Flair, Kelly was more polemical, claiming,under theheadline "new techniquesinspire exciting use in decor," lightingdesign tobe an art. " [I]t is not nature,but theartificial control of selectednatural ele ments. Light and seeing are inseparableconceptions. We in factmake what we see bymaking thingsvisible, and we make themappear and disappear to suit nuances of our desires."30Among the effectsillus tratedwere his use of a combinationof indirectlight and glitteringhigh lightto enhance fine fabricsworn by theclients of theStork Club in New York; color-lightingto achieve distance; and dimmers tocontrol the intensityof lightand thus thesense of scale.31The quintessence of thearticle is a two-pagespread on Philip Johnson'sGlass House titled "RomanticLighting for a Glass House." Itconsists of a largeand a small version of the same panoramic view photographed fromthe interior lookingtoward the exterior at dusk.These are also probablythe earliest photographsof thehouse: candelabraand movable tapersprovide inci dental lightingin thesitting area, and aMiro (whichwould shortlybe

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Opposite: Philip Johnson. replacedby thePoussin) restson an easel. The largerof the two images Glass House, New Canaan, carriescaptions thatuse theatricalterms such as "bracketed,""spots," Connecticut, 1949. Interior views at night, 1949. From "floodlights,"and "backdrop" todescribe the lightingeffects: Rair 1 (February 1950). Photos: Louis Faurer. Lightsbracketed to theeaves illuminatethe lawn around thehouse,

Above: Philip Johnson. giving the illusion,from within, thatthe floor is suspended above Glass House, New Canaan, theground. Connecticut, 1949. Interior A mixture of spotsand floodlightsplaced at thefoot of trees,in view at night, 1949. Detail fromRair 1 (February 1950). thenear and farbackground, light the landscape and give further Photo: Louis Faurer. perspective to the treebackdrop. At night,spotlights located on theroof of thehouse pick out the surroundingtrees to forma luminousbackdrop. Light is shotup at theceiling inside fromfloodlights buried ina groundtrench just outside theplate glasswalls, tobe diffusedover theroom. This provides theprincipal lightingof the interior.32 The smallerimage captures thesame view atnight, but without outside illuminationthe glass wall isblack, so that"the candles and fireplace, reflectedrepeatedly in theglass walls, seem tohave escaped out ofdoors to floatin theair among the trees."33 The keydesign inventionis buried in thebody of thearticle. After a general discussion of new technical developments in local lighting designed tomeet exacting requirementsfor comfort in seeing under changingconditions, Kelly writes that,"to give such concentratedlight ing a reasonable relationwith our natural backgrounds,we require some general lighting.This need is exaggerated in theJohnson glass house by lightingthe immediatesurrounding landscape, in contrastto firelightand moveable tapers indoors."34In otherwords, lightingthe landscape counterbalancesthe illuminationof the interior.The conti nuity and flowbetween interiorand exteriorimplied by thisconcept was a basic premise of thenew architecture theorized in the 1920s. FrankLloyd Wright had induced the interiorflow tectonicallyin his Prairiehouses, as hadMies with theBarcelona Pavilion and Tugendhat House. However, beyond thearticles by Johnsonand Kelly, I am not aware of discussions of theproblem of lightingin relationto theglass wall-in particular,the appearance of interiorspaces at nightand the

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 49

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions pivotal roleplayed by indirectlighting in thedevelopment of midcentury modern buildings. The lightingscheme Kelly and Johnsoncreated forthe Glass House evoked Schinkel's aestheticvision of a stage "essentiallyatmospheric innature, employing lighting and painterlyStimmung as themain devices forthe creation of theatricaleffects."35 The Glass House at nightmust have been somewhatgarish initially:Mies would laughand say thatit made thehouse look like a hot-dog stand.Mies had proposed neon lightingto dramatize a drive-in restaurantfor a commercial strip in Indianapolis andwas stillhoping tobuild it in 1950when probablyhe firstsaw Johnson'sGlass House. But Kelly and Johnsonwere not lighting theexterior. They had discovered how tomake evident thereciprocity between exteriorand interiorthrough the use of lighting.And thiswas somethingneither Johnson nor Kelly could have achieved alone-a pic turesque,Schinkelesque effectthat could only have been achieved within thesublime frameof Miesian architecture.Subsequently, light ingat theGlass House was continuallyrefined while Kelly and Johnson worked togetheron numerous projects beforeJohnson took charge of Seagram in 1955 and Kelly contracted to consult on thearchitectural lightingfor the building. The sense ofdrama Johnson found in Schinkel's workmust have drawnhim toKelly, who had studied theatricaldesign at Yale University. How theymet is yet to be ascertained.36 Kelly had experimentedwith lightingduring his high school days, and aftercompleting courses atColumbia University in 1932, he expe rienced thenew architectureas a lightingdesigner and consultant, which led him to enroll in architecture school. At Yale from 1942 to 1944 hismost tellingexperience was surelyat theUniversity Theatre School,where he tookcourses with thepeerless lightingdesigner Stanley McCandless, one of the earliest instructorsin stage lightingand the authorof thehighly successful treatiseA Method ofLighting the Stage, firstpublished in 1932.37McCandless's close attention to the instru ments of lighting-fixturesand theirtechnical characteristics-con vergedwith the interestsof Kelly, who began toconsult with thefounder ofGotham Lighting in the late 1930s. After obtaining his degree in architecturefrom Yale in themid-1940s, Kelly servedas directorfor the newly formedlamp department of Knoll Associates. Kelly followed McCandless's basic concepts of light as a design method: stage lighting, which "in its brightness and darkness, its color and pattern ... creates an atmosphere that is inherently dramatic"; and the notion that the conquest and control of the medium of light "in a sense provides a new horizon for artistic expression."38 Lighting, McCandless would remind his readers (and doubtless also his stu dents), "is not reallyvisible until it strikessome surfaceso thatit can

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Page fromRichard Kelly, be reflectedto the eye."39Kelly emphasized thispoint by quoting Le "Good Lighting Is Part of Corbusier: "L'architectureest le jeu savant, correct,et magnifique des Good Living, House and Garden 101 (March 1952). formessous la lumie're."40(Architecture is themasterly, correct, and Photo: Scott Hyde/House magnificentplay of formsunder light.)Deriving fromMcCandless the and Garden C Conde Nast notionsof "motivatinglight"941 (light that sets temporality and mood), Kelly Publications, Inc. was concernedwith theeffect on theoccupants of space, and therefore would emphasize thepsychological effects of his work: "To plan visual beauty by controllinglight, it is importantto know thepsychological effectvarious lightphenomena have on us."42 Kelly was a polemicist and as early as 1946 aimed to educate and convert throughhis writings in popular magazines. In 1952, firstin House & Garden and thenmore formallyand self-consciouslyin the CollegeArtJournal, he formalizedhis principlesas a "vocabulary" that expressedhis theoreticalposition on lighting.In theCollege Art ournal articlehe firstintroduced the principles throughthe metaphor ofpaint inga watercolor: A feelingfor light and lightingstarts with visual imagination,just as a painter's talent does. Think of the creation of a watercolor ren dering-First,major highlightsare imagined-then,graded washes of differentluminosity are added and-then, thedetail ofminor lightplaymakes the idea clear and entertainsthe eye. In frontof themind's eye are threeelements in theperceptions ofvisual design-three elementalkinds of lighteffect which can be related to the art of painting for easier visualization: 1) Focal glow or highlight.2) Ambient luminescenceor gradedwashes. 3) Play ofbrilliants or sharpdetail.43 With thesethree elements-"focal glow,""ambient luminescence," and "playof brilliants"-Kelly established the terminology and theprinciples thatwould form the foundation of his work. It is useful to consider how

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 51

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions he applied the threeelements of his thesis in practical termsfor the House & Garden article: 1)Floor lampand hanginglamp provide pools of lightfor armchair and sofa reading.This is called focal glow. 2) Ceiling spotlights spread soft,general lightover fireplacewall and rug,which in turn reflectlight toward [the]ceiling. This is ambient luminescence. 3)Candlelight adds [the]facets of lightand play ofbrilliants.44 As an architecturallighting designer and illuminationengineer, Kelly was in essence applyingtechniques of stagedesign. His threeprinciples of lightingbecame a point of referencein his own field.They were absorbed intoPhilip Johnson'sdesign language,even as Johnsonmade the terminologymore graphic, replacing the tongue-twister"ambient luminescence"with "washing thewalls with light."45Philip was enam ored of thisnew environmentof controllable ambient lightand focal glow and used it not only at the New Canaan Guest House but also in themodest apartment he designed forme in a New York brownstone in themid-1950s. By 1958 Philip's applicationof Kelly's lightingideas was demonstrated at Seagram: the luminous ceilings thatgave an even, shadowless light,the indirectdisplay lighting,and the stronglylight washed travertine core walls of the building lobby were all "new ideas" highlightedin theJuly 1958 Forum article, which concluded thatSeagram was "one of thebest illuminatedbuildings ever constructed."46

The genius ofKelly and Johnson'scollaboration in lightingthe glass building was in creating at Seagram, as they had at the Glass House, continuityand reciprocitybetween interiorand exteriorspaces. These effectswere epitomized in theFour Seasons restaurant,which opened in 1959.Kelly's thesisabout lightingrequired an architecturalaesthetic to soar,perhaps even todevelop. Philip's strongMiesian discipline and languagecombined with his own romanticand intellectualsensibili ties supplied such an aesthetic along a six-year trajectory that led from the tentativemoves made in theGlass House in 1949 to the sophisti cated levels achieved at Seagram. Behind the bronze and topaz glass skin of the east wing, set back behind the building shaft and visible from the street, the shimmer of light and people in the great rooms of the restaurantimbue theplace with the intriguingpromise of something about to happen. The form isMies's, but the drama belongs to Philip. The entrance to the Four Seasons from Park Avenue draws the public across thepink graniteplaza, throughthe glass entrycage, and through thehoney-colored travertine core walls. Thewelcoming presence of these

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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. walls ismaintained day and nightby awash of lightregulated by Kelly Seagram Building, New devised astronomicaland numericalclocks, which togetherconstantly York, 1958. Lobby Entrance to the Four Seasons adjust thebalance ofbrightness to the levelof the intensityof thesun Restaurant Published in midday, twilight,and theblackness ofnight. A ProgressiveArchitecture Progressive Architecture criticnoted that"it requiredcourage to spend enoughwattage toachieve XXXIX (September 1958). Photo: Ezra Stoller C Esto. theminimum intensitythat could be expressive."47Kelly's dark-light CCA Collection, Montr6al. trofferscreate uniform brightness, evenly washing thetwenty-four-foot high travertinewalls-an achievementnot realizedbefore. Lewis Mumford wrote eloquentlyabout theentrance to thebuilding: The noble scale of theentrance isnot justan outside pretensebut an inside reality.... Even theblack bands of thecove lightingin the lobbyceiling, which is ofmulti-toned graymosaic, serve to pointup, by theirsharp contrast, the firm, undeviating integrity andmasculinity-of thisdesign. Such purityand dignityare com pletely lackingin most contemporarymetropolitan architecture, with its endeavor to humanize what is inhuman and to refinewhat remainsso patentlyvulgar. One must almostgo back toPalladio's San GiorgioMaggiore, inVenice, foranything like the same quality ofmind and expression.48 Kelly had broughtlight-washed walls, his principle of "ambient lumi nescence," toa highlycontrolled level of expression. At the52nd Street entrance to theFour Seasons thewalls are similarlylight washed, and Kelly's "dark-lights"in theceiling createan ambient luminescence in thetravertine floor. This tomblikespace with travertinefloors and walls isno longerMies but Johnson.We are remindedof Queen Luise's bed room as well as themausoleum Schinkel designed forher at Schloss Charlottenburg(1810-1812) and thebedroom at Philip's New Canaan Guest House. Memory of theguest bedroom's fabricwalls was at the

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outsetevoked by thepink and silverFortuny cloth liningthe walls of theLadies Powder Room that opens off the travertine entrance to theFour Seasons. The swags ofQueen Luise's drapery also reverberatein themost spectacularaspect of thetwo great Four Seasons diningrooms: theveil of the"Venetian" curtains made of X . fine-gaugealuminum chains falling in a catenary curve at thewindow walls. Iwas N impressedby thegenius of the ideawhen Philip and I visited the studio ofMarie Nichols, the textiledesigner who devel oped these curtains.Yet onlywhen they were hung did we understand theextraor dinaryeffect of themotion inducedby the heated or cooled air rising fromthe con vectorsat thewindow wall, causing the lightweightyellow, pink, and Top: Richard Lippold. green-goldaluminum chains tomove in a slow,wavelike motion. As in Sculpture suspended from the ceiling of the Four Queen Luise's bedroom, "light [is] reflectedand filteredthrough the Seasons Bar and Grill material."49At timesduring theday thecurtains are almost transparent, Room, Seagram Building. but in theevening theygain varyingdegrees of opacity and reflectivity From Interiors CXIX (December 1959). as themaltre d'hotel changes themood in the room,by orchestrating Photo: Louis Reens. of the intensity "ambient light,"the "focal glow" of pools of softlight Bottom: Richard Lippold. on the tables,and a "play ofbrilliants" among sculptureand plants Sculpture and curtains in thus illustratingKelly's threeprinciples forthe creation of a seductive the Four Seasons Bar and Grill Room. From environmentwith light.50 Progressive Architecture XL Richard Lippold's sculpture in theFour Seasons Bar andGrill Room (December 1959). was Philip's answer to the requestof the restaurateurto create amore Photo: Ezra Stoller C Esto. intimatespace in thevast, high-ceilingedroom. Lippold's sculpture, made ofmultiple quarter-inch-squarebronze rods suspended from

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This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions pairs of finewires. Lippold also added a pen dant to thiswork high on themezzanine wall of theBar Room. The multiple elements of these artworks,which sparklewhen lightis focused on them,allowed Kelly to introducehis third principleof lighting:a "playof brilliants." This "aestheticocular stimulus"plays in a private diningroom just off the mezzanine. A sparkling ceiling composed ofminiature incandescent lampsmounted inmetal panels hovers over the room. Is thisKelly's idea or Philip's? A gossamer sparkle curtain designed by Kelly was describedby him in theApril 1959 issue ofThe New Yorkeras being strungwith count less electricalbulbs so infinitesimalas tobe practically invisibleby daylight.51However, theboldness of thestarry field recalls the1874 aquatintby Schinkel forhis most famousstage set, forthe "Palace of theQueen of theNight," which he designed forthe first act ofMozart's Magic Flute. This image is one thatanyone thinkingof Schinkel's extraordinaryrange, and especiallyPhilip Johnson,would know. As suggestedby therestaurant's name, plants forman integralpart of theFour Seasons inte Top: Ludwig Mies van der riordesign. The concept of landscape architectKarl Linn was tohave Rohe and Philip Johnson. "permanentspecimen planting, strong entities, and decorative 'exhibi Four Seasons Private Dining Room, New York, tion' flowerdisplays" at each season.52In contrastto theNew Canaan 1959. From Intemational Glass House, where thebuilding structureframes the landscape, at the Lighting Review 12 (1961). Four Seasons the play of thenatural formsof leaves and branches Bottom: Karl Friedrich heightensthe expanse of thedisciplined architectureas diners ascend Schinkel. "Decoration zu der oper: Die Zauberfiote the stairs.Around thebronze housing at thebase of each plant,Kelly Act 1 Scene V,' stage set placed uplights thatcast leafyshadows and project patternsof light forMozart's Magic Rute, onto theceiling, while the leaves themselvessparkle and shimmer.This 1874. Plate 14 from is dramaticin SBmmiung von Theater effect especially thePool Room,where at thefour corners Dekorationen erfunden of thesquare pool largetropical plants both dominate the space and cre von Carl Friedrich Schinkel, ate an intimateenvironment. Down-lights fromthe ceiling illuminate Berlin, 1874. Aquatint. upper Ficus CCA Collection, Montr6al. the leavesof theornamental fig trees, decora, filteringsub tleshadows onto thesurface of thetables, while uplightscast dramatic shadows on the ceiling. The sparkle of the treesand thepool thus becomes thecounterpart of theLippold sculpturein thebar. Because of thegeometry of thehalf-cubic rooms and theclarity and purityof the decorative treatmentof the two solid and two transparentglass walls,

Lambert I Stimmung at Seagram: Philip Johnson Counters Mies van der Rohe 55

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions despite thestrategic location of theplants, theFour Seasons isnot an indoorgarden. A finebalance existsbetween thearchi tecturalframe and therefined surfaces therippling chain curtains, the parchment paneling in one room, and the book matched French walnut paneling in theother, all bathed in light-and the intricatescale of the"pointillist" light dappled plants. These roomswere orchestratedwith a theatricalsensibility where lighting played a crucial role.The subtle effects used to light the trees and pool in the dining rooms of theFour Seasons con nect the interiorof the restaurantwith the illuminated treesand fountainson the plaza and the glow of the Seagram Building day and night.Philip Johnson did not have to strugglewith tectonics: he had only to invokean interiorenvi ronmentwithin the space ofMies's structure.With theunleashing of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe his refinedsensibility for light and materials, as well as his sense ofhis and Philip Johnson. Four Seasons Pool Dining tory,Johnson came intohis own. He broughtto Mies's appreciationof Room, New York, 1959. Schinkel's "wonderfulconstructions, excellent proportions and good From Intedors CXIX detailing"Schinkel's othergenius forevoking Stimmung. (December 1959). Photo: Louis Reens.

Dedicated to thememory of Philip Johnson,1906-2005

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This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Notes

This paper is an edited version of a talk given in February 2004 in the Collins/Kaufmann Forum forModern Architecture at Columbia University at the invitation of Barry Bergdoll.

1954. 1. Philip Johnson, in conversation with the author, October 2. Quoted in Sybil Gordon Kantor, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., and the Intellectual Origins of 303. theMuseum ofModern Art (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2002), see 3. For this and subsequent quotes drawn from this unsigned article, "Seagram's Custom Look: 13 New Ideas for Better Skyscraper Design," Architectural Forum 109, no. 1 (July 1958): 72-75. 4. B.H. Friedman, "The Most Expensive Restaurant Ever Built," The Evergreen Review 3, no. 10 (November/December 1959): 112. 5. Lewis Mumford, "Lessons of the Master," New Yorker, 13 September 1958,147. 6. Mumford, 142.

7. Phyllis Lambert to Lewis Mumford, 23 September 1958, in Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 17 in 8. Philip Johnson to Gene R. Summers, January 1957, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. 9. See Henry-Russell Hitchcock, "Introduction," in Philip Johnson, Philip Johnson: Architecture, 1949-1965 (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966), 10. inHis 10. Quoted in Hilary Lewis and John O'Connor, Philip Johnson: The Architect Own Words (New York: Rizzoli, 1994), 37. 11. Lewis and O'Connor, 37. 12. Lewis and O'Connor, 37. Review 13. See Philip Johnson, "House at New Canaan, Connecticut," Architectural 108, no. 645 (September 1950): 152-159. 14. Johnson, "House at New Canaan, Connecticut," 154. 15. Johnson, "House at New Canaan, Connecticut," 153. van Listener 16. Ludwig Mies der Rohe, interview by Graeme Shankland, The 62, no. 1594 (15 October 1959): 622. 17. "Mies in Berlin," transcript of 1966 interview with Mies for the RIAS, the American MvdR Radio University, Berlin, in Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Papers, Container 62, 8. 18. The 1921 and 1927 Baedeker guides Berlin und Umgebung list Schloss Charlottenburg in a and refer to rooms including the bedroom of Queen Luise, which is also mentioned 1937 Guide to theMuseum as having been renovated in the 1930s. Dr. Burkhardt Goeres, Direktion, Schl?sser und Sammlungen, e-mail to Renata Guttman (CCA Library for author), 23 September 2004. York: 19. Barry Bergdoll, Karl Friedrich Schinkel: An Architect for Prussia (New Rizzoli, 1994), 31. this became known as the 20. Designed in 1954 with Richard Kelly and Edison Price, "Glass House floor lamp." foreword 21. Philip Johnson, "Schinkel and Mies," in Writings/Philip Johnson, by A.M. 164-181 Vincent Scully, intro. by , commentary by Robert Stern, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 165. as a 22. See Kurt W. F?rster, '"Only Things That Stir the Imagination': Schinkel 1781-1841: Drama ed. Scenographer," in Karl Friedrich Schinkel, The of Architecture,

van 57 Lambert IStimmung at Se am Phip Johnson Counters Mies der Rohe

This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions John Zukowsky (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; T?bingen: Wasmuth, 1994), 18-35. 23. Philip Johnson, "Schinkel and Mies," in Writings/Philip Johnson, foreword by Vincent Scully, intro. by Peter Eisenman, commentary by Robert A.M. Stern, 164-181 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979), 177. Johnson originally presented "Schinkel a and Mies" as speech at Congress Hall, Berlin, 13 March 1961. 24. Peter Blake, "A Conversation with Mies," in Four Great Makers of Modern Architecture: Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Wright: A Verbatim Record of a Symposium Held at the School of Architecture from March toMay 1961 (New York: Columbia University, 1963), 94. 25. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, "Miscellaneous Notes to Lectures (around 1950)," in van on Fritz Neumeyer, The Artless Word: Mies der Rohe the Building Art, trans. Mark Jarzombek (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991), 328. 26. Philip Johnson, "Introduction," inKarl Friedrich Schinkel, Collection of Architectural Designs, repr. 1866 ed. (Chicago: Exedra Books, 1981), 1. 27. Philip Johnson, "Philip Johnson Remembers Richard Kelly," Lighting Design and Application 9 (June 1979): 49. 28. Johnson, "Johnson Remembers Kelly," 49. . . . 29. Richard Kelly, "The Better to See ,"House & Garden 90, no. 6 (December 1946), 152. on 30. Richard Kelly, "Focus Light?New Techniques Inspire Exciting Use in Decor," Flair 1 (February 1950), 66. on 31. Kelly, "Focus Light," 67. 32. Kelly, "Focus on Light," 68. on 33. Kelly, "Focus Light," 69. on 34. Kelly, "Focus Light," 67. 35. F?rster, 24.

36. Thanks toMargaret Maile of the Bard Graduate Center, we know that both Kelly on and Johnson served the "affordable lighting" jury in November 1945, which had been set up by Eliot Noyes, then director of the Department of Industrial Design at MoMA, to stimulate better design in objects for everyday use. Margaret Maile, e-mail to author, 18 October 2003.

37. Stanley McCandless, A Method of Lighting the Stage (New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1932). Later editions followed in 1939 and 1947, and an emended and revised edition appeared in 1958. 38. McCandless, 9. 39. McCandless, 16. as an 40. Richard Kelly, "Lighting Integral Part of Architecture," College Art Journal no. 12, 1 (Fall 1952): 26. The quotation is transcribed incorrectly as "L'Architecture est sur le Jeux, savant, correct, etmagnifique des formes la lumi?re" (emphasis added). 41. McCandless, 50. 42. Richard Kelly, "Good Lighting Is Part of Good Living," House and Garden 101, no. 3 (March 1952): 192. as an 43. Kelly, "Lighting Integral Part of Architecture," 24. 44. Kelly, "Good Lighting Is Part of Good Living," 138. 45. See "The Basic Scheme Was toWash Walls with Light from Invisible Sources," in Olga Gueft, "Four Seasons Restaurant, by Philip Johnson," Interiors CXIX, no. 5 (December 1959): 168.

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This content downloaded from 134.84.192.103 on Fri, 5 Sep 2014 12:49:45 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 46. "Seagram's Custom Look," 75. 47. "Lighting Is Architecture: Definition of Structure," Progressive Architecture 39, no. 9 140. (September 1958): 48. Mumford, 145.

49. Bergdoll, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, 31. as an 50. Kelly, "Lighting Integral part of Architecture," 24. 51. Richard Kelly, quoted in [S.H.], "On and Off the Avenue: About the House," New Yorker, 4 April 1959,132. 52. Karl Linn, "The Four Seasons: Collaboration for Elegance," Progressive Architecture 40, no. 12 (December 1959): 142.

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