Perry Johanson (9 May 1910 in

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, Weld County, Colorado, ...

– 15 June 1981 in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

) was a

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and one of the founders of the architectural firm

NBBJ NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C.. NBBJ provides services in arch ...

. Johanson enrolled in the architecture program at the University of Washington in 1929 and graduated in 1934 with a

B.Arch. The Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) is a bachelor's degree designed to satisfy the academic requirement of practising architecture around the world. Australia Architectural education in Australia varies depending on the university offering th ...

While in school he was particularly influenced by

Lionel Pries Lionel H. ("Spike") Pries (June 1, 1897 – April 7, 1968), was a leading architect, artist, and educator in the Pacific Northwest. Early life and education Lionel Pries was born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland. His father work ...

. Johanson was initially employed by the Seattle firm Smith & Carroll, but within two years he was a partner in the firm, renamed Smith, Carroll & Johanson; the firm survived until 1951. In 1943, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he joined with

Floyd Naramore Floyd Archibald Naramore (July 21, 1879 in Warren, Illinois – October 29, 1970 in Seattle) was a Seattle architect. He was Seattle Schools Architect from 1919 to 1932, and he was a founding partner, in 1943, of the firm that today is known ...

, William J. Bain, and Clifton Brady to form Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson (informally known as "The Combine" at the time) to undertake war-related projects such as reinforcing architecture. This joint venture worked so well that the partners continued it after 1945. Johanson remained a partner until his death. Today's

is the successor firm. Johanson was one of the architects who joined together about 1950 to create the Hilltop community in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as ...

, a planned residential community of modern homes on large lots. In 1950-51, Johanson served as the president of the Washington State

AIA AIA or A.I.A. or Aia may refer to: Aia * Aia, a small town in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa, Spain * Aia, current Kutaisi, ancient capital of Colchis * Aia, another name for Aea (Malis), an ancient town in Greece * ''Aia'', the collected ed ...

Chapter (predecessor to today's AIA Seattle Chapter). He was named a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the AIA in 1960. He married sculptor Jean Johanson in 1936. The couple had two children.

References

* Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, ed., ''Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects'', Seattle and London:

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, they have worked to assist the universi ...

, 1994, page 346; * "Have We an Indigenous Northwest Architecture? Symposium." ''Architectural Record,'' 113 (April 1953), pp. 140–146. * "Houses for Defense at Bremerton, Wash; Private Architects Prove that a Government Project Can Be Attractive at Low Cost and without Sacrifice of Speed." ''Architectural Forum,'' 75 (December 1941), pp. 409–415. * "New Fellows of the AIA," ''Journal of the American Institute of Architects,'' 33 (June 1960), p. 52. * Obituary, ''AIA Journal,'' 70 (September 1981), p. 91. * Portrait, ''Architectural Forum,'' 95 (September 1951), p. 132. * Portrait, ''Progressive Architecture,'' 28 (November 1947), p. 12. * Portrait, ''Progressive Architecture,'' 29 (December 1948), p. 50. * Portrait, ''Progressive Architecture,'' 31 (September 1950), p. 57. * Portrait, ''Architectural Forum,'' 89 (July 1948), p. 20. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johanson, Perry 1910 births 1981 deaths Architects from Colorado Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Architects from Seattle University of Washington College of Built Environments alumni 20th-century American architects