The work of Chicago architect Ralph Johnson explores the use of restrained modernism to enrich and clarify complex programmatic buildings with intriguing assemblies that reveal their functions and hierarchical relationships. Johnson’s goal is to form, through the social art of architecture, an urban environment of buildings that are good civic neighbors as well as distinguished citizens. The projects in this book, both built and unbuilt, represent his concern for humanistic values and emphasis on process rather than preconceived product, allowing the work to respond to diverse cultures and urban conditions. Johnson is a principal and the design director at Perkins+Will. The book includes essays by Rodolphe el-Khoury, Daniel Friedman, and Thomas Fisher.

Ralph Johnson of Perkins+Will

// Johnson’s goal is to form, through the social art of architecture, an urban environment of buildings that are good civic neighbors as well as distinguished citizens. The projects in this book, both built and unbuilt, represent his concern for humanistic values and emphasis on process rather than preconceived product, allowing the work to respond to diverse cultures and urban conditions.