Though New Canaan’s prized centerpiece of Mid Century Modern architecture—the Glass House—has been open for public tours for nearly 20 years, to have it without its counterpart, the Brick House, “is actually to miss a key element of what Philip Johnson was trying to do,” according to architecture critic and writer Paul Goldberger. “Without the Brick House, the Glass House would not exist, not only because the mechanical systems are connected underground, sort of like an umbilical cord, but the joining is almost more important metaphorically as a reminder of different aspects of domestic life,” Goldberger told a crowd of Glass House staff members present and past, supporters, National Trust for Historic Preservation representatives and media members during a formal unveiling of the restored Brick House, held April 30 at the famed 49-acre historic site (the tour season is now open). “Every building, every resident, everywhere any of us live, has aspects of it that are public and aspects that are private,” he continued. “Johnson, very eager to explore that idea, that duality, and make it into kind of an architectural statement in itself, broke the public and private parts apart, and exaggerated both of them. The Glass House, with its transparency, symbolizes the ultimate public space.
