Quote #17

...Comfort is not a function of beauty... purpose is not necessary to make a building beautiful...sooner or later we will fit our buildings so that they can be used...where form comes from I don't know, but it has nothing at all to do with the functional or sociological aspects of our architecture.

More from Philip Johnson

  1. Early unsuccessess shouldn't bother anybody because it happens to absolutely everybody.
  2. To be in the presence of a great work of architecture is such a satisfaction that you can go hungry for days. To create a feeling such as m…
  3. On architects being known for long life spans: Of course they live long -- they have a chance to act out all their aggressions.
  4. Architecture is surely not the design of space, certainly not the massing or organization of volumes. These are ancillary to the main point…
  5. I would rather stay in Chartres Cathedral with the nearest toilet two blocks away, than in a Harvard house with back-to-back bathrooms.
  6. The job of the architect today is to create beautiful buildings. That's all.
  7. The duty of the artist is to strain against the bonds of the existing style.
  8. The Michelangelos of this world are not to be imitated; it is too difficult, and too dangerous.

All Philip Johnson quotes