NEW CANAAN, Conn., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Famed U.S. architect Philip Johnson died Tuesday at his Connecticut home at the age of 98, the New York Times reported.
Sometimes called the dean of American architects, Johnson's signature works include the Glass House in New Canaan, Conn., where he lived until his death; the sculpture garden of New York's Museum of Modern Art; and the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington.
Johnson began his professional life as a writer, historian and curator and did not enter architecture school until he was 35. He began his career as an ardent champion of Modernism, influenced by architect Mies van der Rohe, but unlike many of the movement's early advocates, he moved on to other perspectives.
Johnson was the first winner of the Pritzker Prize, the $100.000 award established in 1979 by the Pritzker family of Chicago to honor an architect of international stature, the Times reported. In 1978 he received the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects, the highest award in the architectural profession.
He is survived by his companion of 45 years, David Whitney.
