Johansen, John M.

Johansen, John M.
290 Katherine St Englewood, NJ 07631

John M. Johansen is associated in Columbus, Indiana, with Smith Elementary School, and his son, Christen Johansen, designed the school’s 1997 expansion and renovation. One of the last surviving members of the celebrated “Harvard Five,” John Johansen was known for an inventive and often experimental modernism that embraced new materials, bold forms, and unconventional spatial ideas. In Columbus, Smith Elementary became one of the city’s most memorable school designs, recognized for its brightly colored circulation tubes and layered composition of concrete and corrugated steel. The 1997 addition by Christen Johansen extended the original concept while updating the building for continued use. John Johansen studied at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and was later elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

Columbus, Indiana projects
• Smith Elementary School (now L. Frances Smith Elementary School), 4505 Waycross Drive, 1969.
• Smith Elementary School expansion and renovation, 4505 Waycross Drive, 1997.

Honors
• Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA).

Work in Columbus