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Surprising to some, the Atlanta skyline features two skyscrapers with designs by disgraced architect and ex-Nazi agent Philip Johnson (1906-2005).

Johnson's scandalous and unearthed 1930s history has brought forth discussion of concern in Cleveland, Miami, Minneapolis, Toronto, and Bielefeld, Germany, on how to deal with the designs and that branding involving built structures.

There have also been protests in New York, Boston, and Connecticut. The latter includes a zoning case appeal in the Connecticut Superior Court set to go into its third year after initial filing.

As shown in Johnson's declassified FBI report, Johnson's secretary from 1934 alleged that he aspired to become the American Hitler while a curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. This document is a real page-turner.

The two buildings in Atlanta are One Atlantic Center (built in 1987) and 191 Peachtree Tower (with John Burgee Architects in 1990), a 50-story skyscraper. For the latter, Johnson / Burgee contributed "timeless exterior architectural features", according to the building's website.

On January 27, 2005, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a lengthy feature / obituary after Philip Johnson's death, with a photo of the 191 Peachtree building. According to journalist Catherine Fox, "Atlanta has two [Johnson designs]: One Atlantic Center, formerly the IBM Tower... and 191 Peachtree."

Fox added in her article, "… Even revelations of questionable political activities during the '30s— he was involved with Huey Long and Father Coughlin and exhibited Nazi sympathies— didn't do him much harm."

Cropped view of AJC article on Johnson on January 27, 2005.

In contrast to the softer-touch obituary for the left-leaning Atlanta market, The Observer (UK) was more to the point. Their obituary was entitled "A Nazi piece of work: Deyan Sudjic remembers America's fascist godfather of architecture."

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What's different in Johnson's history is that he was a darling of post-WWII elite left culture, and protected within that to some extent, until 1994 with the release of a critical biography and mention of his FBI report.

Johnson's flip response at that time, in a lead-up article-interview by Vanity Fair in 1993 was, "Sex and Nazis can do quite well."

Books such as Mark Lamster's The man in the glass house (2018) and Rachel Maddow's Prequel (2023) detail Johnson's extensive Nazi history in Germany and the US. This included attending the 1938 Nuremberg rally, acting as a Nazi propagandist, and meeting with— and being in contact with— various figures in the US-based Nazi Germany embassy scene.

In 1932, Johnson attended a Hitler Youth rally in Germany. This was with his Vogue writer-pal, a Wellesley graduate, arranged by Harvard graduate Ernst Hanfstaengl, a German-American, who was Hitler's foreign press secretary.

Johnson was noted as saying decades later that he felt thrilled seeing “all those blond boys in black leather” marching past the Führer.

Johnson came out publicly as gay in 1993, but it wasn't a well-kept secret.

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Johnson allegedly "reformed himself" after facing an FBI investigation in 1940. His associates faced grand jury investigations, with a number convicted in the crackdown. It is thought that his elite family and personal connections, out of Cleveland and New York, lobbied for Johnson to not face further investigation and prosecution.

He described his pro-Nazi period over many years as shameful, after he got caught.

In October 27, 1940, the Atlanta Constitution published an impactful, syndicated article by journalist Dorothy Thompson about Frederich Auhagen, with mention of Philip Johnson. Auhagen was later convicted as an unregistered foreign agent on July 11, 1941.

Thompson wrote, "Dr Auhagen's leading braintrusters were Philip Johnson and Lawrence Dennis, both Harvard men and both brilliant... [Lawrence Dennis] believes that the capitalist system is on its last legs and that it must and will be succeeded in the United States by a Fascist regime— arguments advanced in two published books."

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See more on Philip Johnson:

> Why Are US / CT Taxpayers Funding The Memorial Site Of A Nazi Agent? Because He Was Part Of Elite 1945+ Left Culture? (Connecticut Centinal)

> Madison Neighbors Versus Tremaine Foundation Zoning Battle Continues In Meriden; Considered A Top Architectural World Controversy In 2024 (Connecticut Centinal)

> Johnson & Tremaine Associates, Ridgefield’s Martha Dodd Featured In Hitler’s Aristocrats (2023) — Part 1 Of 6 (Six-Part Article Series) (Connecticut Centinal)

> Nazi Influence At NYC Museum Of Modern Art? (The Manhattan)

> When A Famous Architect Is Also An Anti-Semite (Tablet)

> Search "Philip Johnson Nazi" in Google and duckduckgo to see hundreds of articles.

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