Philip Johnson was an American architect, art historian, and architectural historian, born on July 8, 1906, in Cleveland, Ohio.

Johnson was educated at Hackley School before going on to study at Harvard University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. His career spanned decades and brought him recognition across multiple disciplines, reflecting his dual standing as both a practicing architect and a serious historian of the field. He worked in the English language throughout his professional life and remained a citizen of the United States until his death on January 25, 2005, in New Canaan.

Among his notable works are the Crystal Cathedral and the Philip Johnson House, the latter of which he designed for himself. Johnson was associated with postmodern architecture, a connection that ran through much of his output and shaped the kinds of commissions and conversations he was part of. Over the course of his career he collected a significant number of honors, including the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the AIA Gold Medal, the National Medal of Arts, the Golden Plate Award, and the AIGA Medal — a range of recognition that cut across architecture, design, and the arts more broadly.

Postmodern architecture remained the consistent thread connecting Johnson's practice and his thinking about the built environment, and it's the lens through which his buildings, including the Crystal Cathedral, are most often considered.