New York’s Lipstick Building Hosts Philip Johnson Exhibition

In 1986, a 34-story office tower went up in the midst of basic, square office buildings. But this building was anything but square. The three-tiered, cylindrical tower had a red-granite-and-steel façade, that with the red color continued on the façade’s windows, earned it the nickname, “the Lipstick Building.” With buildings including this one, architect Philip Johnson helped define Postmodern architecture. Fifty years of Johnson’s work are now on exhibit in that Manhattan building he designed, curated by Hilary Lewis, author of Philip Johnson: The Architect in His Own Words (Rizzoli, 1994) and The Architecture of Philip Johnson (Bulfinch, 2002). Architecture Dan Shannon of New York–firm Moed de Armas & Shannon Architects designed the exhibition, which has glass panels that feature photos of Johnson and design plans and elevation drawings of the Lipstick Building. Open to the public through the fall, the exhibit is located in the south portion of the building’s elliptical lobby.