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Part Memoir, Part Manifesto, the New Book Traces Johnson’s Career While Exploring
the Evolution of Contemporary Architecture Across the Globe.
Architect Scott Johnson, FAIA, has published a new book, Inside Architecture: A Design Journal, released by Balcony Press. Structured as a personal and professional retrospective, the book offers a rare glimpse into the creative process of one of Los Angeles’s most accomplished architects. Combining candid narrative, project case studies, and design commentary, Johnson reflects on the buildings, cities, and ideas that have shaped his decades-long career as the design partner and co-founder of Johnson Fain.
The first part of the book is a personal account of Johnson’s upbringing, his education on both coasts, including studies at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), and his family’s journey over the years, lending the memoir a personal dimension that traces the formation of his values and vision. Included are stories of working with the formidable Philip Johnson, FAIA (no relation), in New York, as well as the Los Angeles architectural titan William L. Pereira, FAIA.
After relaying his personal journey, Johnson chronicles formative experiences and design decisions across a series of domestic and international projects. From early work in Guam to high-rise towers in Jakarta and Taichung, and from transformative civic commissions in Dallas and Beijing to wineries and private homes in California, Johnson describes both the ambitions and challenges of architecture in real-world contexts. What emerges is a portrait of a practice that is deeply attuned to cultural nuance, climate, material, and the evolving role of design in contemporary life. Of great note are discussions of his best-known buildings: Fox Plaza, which reached popular fame as “the Die Hard building,” and the Crystal Cathedral, which he worked on originally at Johnson Burgee Architects and then again more than 30 years later to redesign the interior as Christ Cathedral.
The last section of the book gathers several of Johnson’s previously published texts on architecture, alongside a wide-ranging interview with architect John Ash, AIA, offering deeper context and critical perspective. Together, these writings bolster Johnson’s view of architecture both as a built art and as a continuous conversation between ideas, history, and lived experience.
Inside Architecture moves fluidly between project sites, moments of insight, and design values that have guided Johnson’s work. The architect explores the power of form and façade, the discipline of planning and massing, and the importance of collaboration across borders and cultures. He also reflects on architecture’s role in shaping public experience, drawing on firsthand experience with mentors, clients, communities, and institutions. Through these entries, a larger narrative comes into view, one that traces architecture’s capacity to navigate change while remaining grounded in place and purpose.
As the design partner and co-founder of Johnson Fain, a Los Angeles-based architecture, planning, and interior design firm, Johnson has shaped a wide range of influential projects across the United States and abroad. His early professional career included leadership positions at large international firms while his academic appointments have included teaching posts at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of California Berkeley, and the University of Southern California (USC), where he also served as Director of the Master of Architecture Programs. He received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley and his Master of Architecture degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD). Through built work, writing, and public dialogue, Johnson has become known for advancing ideas about architecture’s relationship to urbanism, culture, and contemporary life.
Johnson’s previous books include Inside Art (Balcony Press, 2023), Tectonics of Place II: The Architecture of Johnson Fain (ORO Editions, 2023), Uncommon Ground: Notes on the Visual Arts + Architecture (Balcony Press, 2021), Essays on the Tall Building and the City (Balcony Press, 2017), Performative Skyscraper: Tall Building Design Now (Balcony Press, 2014), Tectonics of Place: The Architecture of Johnson Fain (Images Publishing Group, 2010), Tall Building: Imagining the Skyscraper (Balcony Press, 2008), and The Big Idea: Criticality and Practice in Contemporary Architecture (Balcony Press, 2006).
