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John M. Johansen 
A Life in the Continuum of Modern Architecture

Reviewed by Lester Paul Korzilius
Approximately 400 words 

Published in Oculus, October 1996 

New York architect John Johansen (b. 1916) has designed many good buildings, and a few great ones. Now entering his ninth decade, he has written a book containing equal parts of monograph, autobiography, and theoretical discourse. Collectively these parts make an interesting tapestry and give a unique perspective on his work.

Mr. Johansen's reputation rests primarily on the Oklahoma (Mummers) Theater Center (1970), and the Goddard Library at Clark University, Massachusetts (1968). The Mummers Theater is a seemingly eclectic assemblage of components and sub-components, connected with brightly colored tubes and ramps. Three small separate theaters are each clearly expressed, forming their own spatial domain serviced by articulated sub-components. The working drawings contained no exterior elevations, apparently to minimize confusion resulting from the fragmented design. The Goddard Library is a five-storey building defined internally by rectangular floors dedicated to book stacks. The perimeter, in contrast, strongly expresses the changing internal functions and responds to the different solar orientations. Mr. Johansen postulates a four part ordering system comprising the structural frame (chassis), the major functioning elements (components), subcomponents, and the electrical circuitry that carries messages throughout the building. What makes these works stand out is the strength of inner conviction. These buildings are the results of ideas.

Other notable buildings covered in the book include the L. Frances Smith School in Columbus (1969), Mechanic Theater in Baltimore (1967), Staten Island Community College (1975), Clowes Hall and Opera House (1964), the U.S. Embassy in Dublin (1963), several seminal houses, and a series of conceptual projects undertaken since Mr. Johansen's retirement from active practice. The conceptual projects include a conference center designed as a froth of bubbles with a serpentine mag-lev escalator, an experimental theater with moving stages on mag-lev rails (vertical, horizontal, and circular), and flexible structures that alter their shape according to changing internal uses.

Mr. Johansen's narration of his work offers a unique insight to his thought process. However, a third-party critic might be better positioned to critically assess the significant importance of the work, and the relevance of the many scientific and philosophical concepts referred to in the book. The Mummers Theater, the Goddard Library, the Smith School, and the Mechanic Theater are superb works of architecture, and would have benefitted from more extensive coverage with detail drawings and photographs. Despite these flaws, the book gives an appreciation of Mr. Johansen=s work to the next generation of architects. Hopefully, future books will fill the missing gaps.