Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee are founding principals of Johnston Marklee in Los Angeles — and this year’s Frank Gehry International Visiting Chairs in Architectural Design — have been announced the artistic directors of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial.  

From The Architects Newspaper:

The second iteration of the first and largest architectural biennial in North America will be entitled Make New History. The biennial will focus on two central themes, “The axis between history and modernity and the axis between architecture and art.” The themes look to discuss the role that history has to play in the making of contemporary architecture, as well as the relationship of architecture to art. Chicago itself will act as a lens through which to raise and debate these issues.

JohnstonMarklee, the Los Angeles-based firm of Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, has a substantial architectural portfolio including residential, commercial, institutional, and exhibition environments with a particular focus on the arts. Their work explores the relationship between design and building technology to create unique works of architecture, which vary in scale from master plans to buildings and temporary installations. The firm has garnered many notable awards including Progressive Architecture Design Awards, AIA Los Angeles & AIA California Council Honor Awards, the American Architecture Award, and an AR Award for Emerging Architecture.

Named in honour of Frank O. Gehry, this endowed Gehry Chair brings a highly recognized international architect (or two) to teach a graduate studio and deliver a public lecture at the Daniels Faculty each year. Graduate students in their third year of the Master of Architecture program or Master of Landscape Architecture program or second year of their Master of Urban Design program have the opportunity to study with the chair holder before they start their design thesis. The chair's public lectures are well attended by all our our students and the broader design community. Previous Gehry Chairs have also taught in the undergraduate program, mounted exhibitions in our gallery, joined undergraduate studio reviews, and given guest lectures as part of the core lecture courses for undergraduates.