“The Metamorphic Capsule ...a meditative chamber whose mood or condition can be controlled by the occupant... this capsule would satisfy psychic needs in the timeless tradition of the cave or womb; in this case, the experience of being swathed in a diaphanous, luminous, and iridescent chamber.” - John M Johansen
John M Johansen age 90
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
“It is fear that makes many architects seize upon the form first, instead of having faith in their own creative process. It is dangerous to rush into a preconceived idea of form, be it neoclassical or brutalist. I make mistakes, but I am no longer afraid.
Perhaps process is the most important word, as it explains more of what I am doing than anything else. I have great faith that through the emerging idea I will arrive at a successful form.
I am interested in the process by which the product evolved rather than the finally perfected form... It seems to me that when a building has been perfected, the architect has killed it. And I am more interested in life." - John M Johansen FAIA
ARCHITECTS OF INTEGRITY
“Architects of integrity do not believe in social uplift, pretentiousness, moralizing, or respectability as essential in their work.
They have accepted the condition of change and uncertainty.
They deal with the fragmentary rather than the complete.
They are interested in process rather than finality.
They accept human imperfection rather than idealism.
They have faith in emerging ideas rather than preconceived ideas.
Their buildings express growth as an accretion or concretion of forms.
Sometimes they are less rational, less regulated, less formal, less modular.
They favor formative art, not fine art.
They are impervious to established values in art thought they have a true concern for the society they lead.
They work for significance rather than beauty per se.
They believe in man working in relationship to nature.”
- John M Johansen FAIA
Johansen and many others believe that buildings such as this sketch of his Chapel of the Sky (above) - a symbol of aliveness, a flower fully open to welcome in the new day - will someday be “grown” through the use of nanoarchitecture. Although Johansen acknowledges that the building designs of the future will undoubtably be more sophisticated than his early sketches, they will be created from the subatomic level and designed to exist in harmony with the natural world.
THE ARCHITECT AS ORIGINATOR
" ...The position of the creative architect is a lonely one, for to originate means to have made the creative venture first, and alone.
“The architect is also a philosopher in the sense that he has to have lived fully, have aware acute perceptions, and find an order and a meaning in life, which he then must state in such an essential and clear way that others may understand. He must be interested in the physical and psychic human processes... and take these processes that make a building come alive; his architectural forms can only derive from a correct understanding of these processes. He tries to pre-live all the possible experiences that others may enjoy them in the building's use; he pre-lives life so that others may see in his buildings a way of life. It is a huge responsibility, and a very gratifying task to fulfill.” - John M Johansen FAIA
