Perennial Outsiders: Johnston Marklee's Sharon Johnston on Taking Journeys and Expanding the Conversation
By Julia Gamolina
Sharon Johnston, FAIA, is founding partner of Los Angeles-based firm Johnston Marklee and Professor in Practice at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Works by Johnston Marklee span thirteen countries and are diverse in scale and type. Recent projects include the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston; a renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; the new Dropbox global headquarters in San Francisco; and the new UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios in Culver City. An upcoming collaboration with Christ & Gantenbein - the renovation of the Hauptbau at Kunstmuseum Basel – will involve museography and interior design by Johnston Marklee, with the aim of enhancing the museum’s porosity to further advance the museum into the civic realm.
Publications on the work of the firm include House Is a House Is a House Is a House Is a House (Birkhauser, 2016); 2G N. 67, El Croquis N. 198, and A+U N. 614. In 2019, Sharon was named Architectural Record’s Women in Architecture: New Generation Leader. Together with partner Mark Lee, Sharon was Co-Artistic Director of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial. In her interview, Sharon talks about dimensions of culture, a constellation of collaborators, and expanding our sense of humanity, advising those just starting their careers to build their communities.
Tell me about your foundational years - where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?
I grew up in southern California on the beach. My favorite things to do as a young kid were building forts in the sand and playing pioneers. Later I discovered beach volleyball, which I played first with family before becoming part of a high school state championship team and playing for Stanford.
What did you learn about yourself in studying architecture?
I was an Italian Renaissance history major at Stanford. During my studies, I spent time traveling in Italy and across Europe and became fascinated with architecture and cities as a record of this history. This led me to art and design courses and eventually to architecture school.
The study of architecture encompasses so many interests I have – it is human centered as a practice and in the way buildings are experienced. The entire arc of a building design, from the model, to the construction site, to the final building, weaves together so many dimensions of culture that I think are germane to an equitable and engaged society. Architecture became the framework that allowed me to learn how much I value this kind of connectivity as a way to be in the world as a creative person.
Cantilevered entry garden corner, UCLA Margo Leavin Graduate Art Studios, Culver City, CA, 2019. Photography courtesy of Iwan Baan.
East entry courtyard, Menil Drawing Institute, Houston, TX, 2018. Image courtesy The Menil Collection, Houston. Photography by Allyson Huntsman.
How did you get your start in the field?
Before I established Johnston Marklee with my partner, I worked for several architecture firms. I graduated during a recession, so my experience ranged from hands-on artisanal design-build projects to very technical construction documentation sets. While the types of projects I worked on were somewhat limited during that time, these engagements helped me to develop important skills and also to experience the full arc of a project from the initial creative concept to the technical execution.
Generally speaking, my earliest experiences as a student and young designer revolved around projects in the arts and communities of artists. I pursued studio art courses while in graduate school with the added bonus of being able to have the print making studio at the Carpenter Center on the Harvard Campus all to myself. I have always found the exchange with artists and designers to be important as a means to both sharpen our thinking and continue to expand the cultural conversation around our work and the discipline of architecture.
Tell me how your work evolved, and you with it. How did Johnston Marklee come about?
Our first projects were in Marfa, Texas for Lannan Foundation, where we were commissioned to renovate several homes from the 1930’s into studios for writers and poets in residence. From these early projects, my partner Mark and I started Johnston Marklee. Our vision to build our practice was very simple – we would work on any scale project as long as our client was interested in taking a journey with us. Since establishing our firm, we have largely stuck to our mission and our constellation of collaborators has continued to expand and intersect through building projects, teaching, writing, and publications.
“Our vision to build our practice was very simple – we would work on any scale project as long as our client was interested in taking a journey with us.”
Where are you in your career today? What is on your mind most at the moment?
As the scale and complexity of our projects have grown, we realize the positive impact that architecture can have to frame enduring and resilient places. We are working on projects at many different scales, from dwellings to larger master plans, but what unites them all is framing space for people – how two individuals or many can come together in ways that expand our sense of humanity and build diverse engagements with the sites in which we work.
We are also very focused the natural world: how open space and landscape - what frames the building as unbuilt space – is essential to the experience of our work. The patio, garden, courtyard, and the meadow weave into each of our projects at different scales and reflect the specific environments we are working in and the atmosphere we intend to create.
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you manage through a disappointment or a perceived setback?
Practicing architects encounter so many challenges. The only way to manage the complexity and difficulty of the work is to see one’s career as a continuous learning experience – dead ends and lost projects are meaningless unless you can learn from them and put that knowledge to work in the context of a future engagement. A work of art that we reference often in our career is entitled “Isolated Elements Swimming in the Same Direction for the Purpose of Understanding (Right),” 1991, by Damien Hirst. It reminds us to keep our eye on what brings coherence to our growing body of work and commit to the continuous practice of contextualizing our ideas from both winning schemes and lost projects. Framing project concepts with a distinct lineage keeps these ideas alive and ready to be deployed for that perfect project where concept and circumstance are aligned. In contrast to a model of accelerated growth, we feel an affinity to architects of our generation who march forward at their own pace. We tend to be perennial outsiders - on a slow burn. We are decidedly not on the fast track, but pursue our architectural interests with tenacity and consistency.
Gallery view, Maison d'Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2020. Photography by Eric Staudenmaier.
Entry foyer and skylight, Casa de Mont, Pacific Palisades, CA, 2020. Photography by Eric Staudenmaier.
What are you most excited about right now?
We are currently working on a wide range of projects from expansive master plans in rural sites to dense urban community housing projects, and I am fascinated with how the past two years has inspired us to think about alternative models of dwelling in such varied circumstances. We are not a one size fits all practice and I am thrilled with the kind of cross pollination that is happening from our studies of the ecology and history of landscape, and how this inspires us to think about historic urban models such as the village within the contemporary city. We have realized how interconnected we all are emerging out of this period of Covid, for better or worse, and I like to think about the positive potential of cooperatives and collectives as a model of work and living today.
Who are you admiring now and why?
More than a singular person, I am inspired by the energy of the pluralistic and collaborative voices that are challenging expected norms and systems of practice and engagement today. So many dynamic creatives across generations and regions of the world are teaming up to find meaningful ways to collaborate that bring diversity and richness to design conversations. This is exciting as it supports the important work of reexamining history and offering up new collective models which disperse traditional structures of power and will offer up new models of decision making in the future.
“In contrast to a model of accelerated growth, we feel an affinity to architects of our generation who march forward at their own pace. We tend to be perennial outsiders - on a slow burn. We are decidedly not on the fast track, but pursue our architectural interests with tenacity and consistency.”
What is the impact you’d like to have in the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?
As an architect, I think about success through the buildings and environments we create. Last week at the GSD Final Reviews we were talking about how differently one perceives a building a year after it is completed versus in fifty years. The truly great buildings evolve and become different and better through time. So, success is creating buildings that are enduring, that are generous and adaptable enough to continue to be relevant — functionally, materially, and within the lineage of history and societal shifts — and that continue to surprise us with their beauty in unexpected ways. I think this describes the best humans in the world too!
Northwest elevation of new tilt up addition and existing warehouse beyond, UCLA Graduate Art Studios, Culver City, CA, 2019. Photography by Iwan Baan.
Vault House, Oxnard, CA, 2013. Photography by Eric Staudenmaier.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
The career arc of an architect is long and winding, and what lies at the very core of a practice when it is born and as it grows are relationships, which support and expand how and where one discovers opportunities to design. The importance of building skills and knowledge cannot be underestimated, and while it seems young practitioners are accelerating their exposure through the myriad of social platforms, taking it slow, being intentional with your output, and building the foundations of a career are still essential to be able to participate in the complexity of projects locally and globally through time.
It’s essential to build a community of like-minded colleagues and collaborators and exchange ideas across a shared platform, whether that be buildings, exhibitions, or teaching, among many other practice modes. I find that having a supportive community helps bring more voices to the table. Being intentional, direct, and collaborative is so essential to creative practice. I observe that women are typically good at harnessing diverse inputs towards shared goals and that these kinds of skills are shining more and more today.