About this talk

Running time: 27 minutes

The late Philip Johnson, one-time partner of Mies van der Rohe (see I Don't Want To Be Interesting, I Want To Be Good), and possibly the most renowned architect of the time, was accused of turning his back on modern architecture in favour of the Post-Modern. This he denied, saying "There's absolutely no way I can get functionalism, structural clarity, simplicity, non-ornament, flat surfaces out of my system... the whole paraphernalia of the International style".

In his talk he goes on to state that he sees no reason why Modern can't embrace some of the richness and fun he finds in the designs of Sir Edwin Lutyens or, better still, Sir Ernest George, Lutyens' first employer.

He elaborates on this idea and shows how he has taken advantage of it in some of his own recent work. As a preamble he takes a look at the streets of London and also tells us what he appreciates about recent British architecture.

We also have the fascinating interview of Johnson by John Peter from 1961, in Now We Have A Style.

Please note that a transcript of this talk is available - please contact us for further details.