"People who live in glass houses, shouldn't walk around naked..."

When world-famous architect, Philip Johnson, built his New Canaan Connecticut home in 1949, he was light years ahead of his time. The Glass House, as it was called, was a turning point in American architecture - a house built with a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall glass exterior. Nearly 60 years later, that vision is commonplace here in New York City and all over the world, as vertical versions of Johnson's glass house stretch toward the sky. Some New York examples include Richard Meier's Perry Street towers, which give the illusion of floating on the Hudson; Gwathmey Siegel's Astor Place condos, with it's curved glass facade; and Ian Schrager's 40 Bond Street, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Herzog & deMeuron. The only drawback for these see-thru gems is that squeegee's are not included.

Authored by Matthew Knee (Guest Author)