Feb 04, 2005  |  By: YUSEF NAJAFI  | COMMENTS     

Philip Cortelyou Johnson, an influential gay architect, died Tuesday, Jan. 25, of unspecified causes at his home in Connecticut, according to his partner of 45 years, David Whitney. He was 98.

The Cleveland native was well known for his post-modern architectural work, including the 648-foot AT&T skyscraper (now owned by Sony) in New York City, which he completed in 1984.

The building’s 90-foot curved entrance is one of Johnson’s many trademark designs, which inspired other architects to experiment with their work.

Johnson also designed Dallas’ new Cathedral of Hope, the largest gay inclusive church in the nation with 3,000 regular worshippers.

The sanctuary design, which is complete, includes a 175-seat Interfaith Peace Chapel. Construction for the next phase of design, including the outdoor narthex, cloister and the Interfaith Chapel, is scheduled to unfold this summer. A scheduled date for the building of the sanctuary is yet to be announced.

Johnson was born to Louis and Homer H. Johnson, an attorney, in Cleveland in 1906.

In 1927 he graduated with honors from Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass., with a degree in philosophy.

He launched his career as an architect in 1932, when he became chair of the Museum of Modern Art’s architecture department in New York.

Johnson went on to attend the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, now called Harvard Design School, in Cambridge, Mass., in 1940. He was one of the most prominent architects of the past century

In Washington, he created the pre-Columbian art wing of the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Northwest. Johnson also created the home of the late David Lloyd Kreeger, the founder of GEICO, which is now a museum, the Washington Post reported.

Johnson’s many accolades include the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, which he received in 1978. He was also the first recipient of the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize, which honors a living architect’s outstanding work, in 1979.

It wasn’t until later in his life that Johnson came out and spoke publicly about being gay.

Despite his extraordinary career, Johnson did have some personal regrets, such as his fascination with “Hitler-style facism,” AP reported.

“I have no excuse [for] such utter, unbelievable stupidity” he later said.

Twelve years ago, Rev. Michael S. Piazza of Dallas’ Cathedral of Hope, contacted Johnson in hopes of landing the influential architect to design the church’s new building.

At that time, the cathedral belonged to the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), “a worldwide fellowship of Christian churches that reach out to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.”

Upon meeting Johnson in 1992 to discuss the new building, the two gay men quickly became friends.

“His partner David Whitney, and my partner would go to New York, and it was sort of like double-dating,” Piazza said.

Initially, Johnson rejected the offer to design the Cathedral of Hope, citing his age. But he later agreed to take on the project after a brief conversation with Piazza.

“I explained to him that [the new cathedral] had to be startling,” Piazza said, “to send a message, as a powerful symbol, that all gay people are children of God too.”

“After we talked for about half an hour, he said ‘How can I not do this?’” Piazza added.

The two presented the design of the new building during a news conference in New York on Johnson’s 90th birthday in 1996.

Johnson later described the project as “the crowning jewel in my lifetime of work.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Yusef Najafi can be reached at ynajafi@washblade.com.