Frederick Russell Johnson (September 14, 1923 – August 7, 2007) was an

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 acoustical expert. Johnson was the founder of Artec Consultants Incorporated in 1970. Nicknamed the "guardian of the ear" by

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

in 1998 and an "acoustic guru" by others, Johnson was best known for works that included technical designs for the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas,

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

in New York,

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in Downtown Newark in Newark, New Jersey, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors (incl ...

, Centre in the Square in Canada,

Pikes Peak Center The Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts (known commonly as Pikes Peak Center) is a concert auditorium in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It serves as an entertainment, cultural, educational, and assembly center for the citizens of El Paso Cou ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Chan Centre for the Performing Arts The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts is located on the campus of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is situated within the natural landscape of the campus and is surrounded by evergreens and rhododendro ...

in Canada and the

Kravis Center for the Performing Arts The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (often referred to as the Kravis Center) is a not-for-profit, professional performing arts center in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. History 1978–1992 In 1978, the Palm Beach County Council of the Ar ...

in Florida. During his lifetime Johnson advanced the field of acoustic design and theater planning by developing adjustable sonic reflectors hanging from the ceiling of his halls to adjust sound depending upon the performer. The reflectors combined with a traditional shoebox shape design are considered trademarks of his firm. Since 1970

Artec Artec Consultants Inc, is an acoustics design and theater planning firm located in New York City. The company was founded by Russell Johnson (acoustician), Frederick Russell Johnson in 1970. In 2013, Artec was integrated into the acoustic desig ...

has collaborated in the designs for some of the most renowned concert halls, opera houses, theatres, and other performance spaces of the 20th century and have created technical designs for over 21,000 projects worldwide including the

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts is a large performing arts venue at 300 South Broad Street and the corner of Spruce Street, along the stretch known as the Avenue of the Arts in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is owned an ...

Sala São Paulo The Júlio Prestes Cultural Center, which is located in the Júlio Prestes Train Station in the old north central section of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, was inaugurated on July 9, 1999. The building has been restored and renovated by the S ...

in Brazil, Culture and Congress Center in Switzerland, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center and

Birmingham Symphony Hall Symphony Hall is a 2,262-seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

in England. In 2004,

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

referred to Johnson as a "legendary" acoustician and his design of the acclaimed Esplanade complex—Theatres on the Bay (concert hall plus opera theatre) in Singapore as "one of the best anywhere". Johnson was published for decades in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

for his many

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...

designs. He was also praised in many publications that included the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Wired Magazine ''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, and the

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Career

After Yale, Johnson entered the field of acoustics and theatre planning. From 1954 to 1970, he worked for Bolt, Beranek and Newman in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. The firm was the country's first large commercial acoustical consulting firm and was founded by physicists trained at

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. He worked there as founder and principal consultant of the Theatre Consulting Division, and as technical coordinator for concert hall and opera house design, including acoustics. In 1970, Johnson decided to start his own firm, initially called 'Russell Johnson & Associates', and later renamed Artec Consultants Inc. Some of the early acclaimed facilities on which Johnson worked include the Orchestra Shell Renovation, Derngate Centre, Grand Theatre de Quebec,

Centennial Concert Hall Centennial Concert Hall is a 2,305-seat performing arts centre located at 555 Main Street in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre. The concert hall opened on March 25, 1968. It is the performing home o ...

, Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater, Hamilton Place in Canada, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and

Place des Arts frame, View of the Place des Arts esplanade. The Musée d'art contemporain is on the left; behind it is the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with the Théâtre Maisonneuve on the right. Place des Arts () is a major performing arts centre in Montreal, Q ...

. As chairman Johnson also led Artec on projects such as the

Harpa (concert hall) Harpa (, English: Harp) is a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland. The opening concert was held on 4 May 2011. The building features a distinctive colored glass façade inspired by the basalt landscape of Iceland. History ...

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, the

Winspear Centre The Francis Winspear Centre for Music is a performing arts centre located in the downtown core of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Opened in 1997, it is the home of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The centre is named after Francis G. Winspear, who d ...

in Edmonton,

Domaine Forget Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is an international music festival and a music and dance academy in Saint-Irénée, Quebec, Saint-Irénée, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada. The domain is a operated by a non-profit organization occupying a large set ...

Charlevoix Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...

and acoustical upgrade of the

Roy Thomson Hall Roy Thomson Hall is a concert hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located downtown in the city's entertainment district, it is home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the esports team Toronto Defiant. Opened ...

. He also revolutionized the profession with adjustable acoustic equipment that could create different acoustic environments for different performance types. In addition, he studied the history of concert hall design and concluded that the best halls were built between about 1840 and 1905. After this time demand arose for concert halls that could serve multiple purposes, hosting symphonies as well as music theater, choral societies and lectures. Smaller auditoriums gave way to venues that could hold 3,000 to 4,000 people. These trends, Johnson believed, led to acoustical nightmares. Therefore, he persuaded many owners and architects to return to the basic shape and dimensions of beloved older halls like the

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Grea ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the

Amsterdam Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the ...

and Symphony Hall in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

; all-of-which are shoebox-shaped and relatively small. Johnson's talents helped make him the go-to person for acoustic design and at time led to his having also worked in collaboration with some of great architects of the world including

Cesar Pelli Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...

Barton Myers Barton Myers (born November 6, 1934) is an American architect and president of Barton Myers Associates Inc. in Santa Barbara, California. With a career spanning more than 40 years, Myers is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and wa ...

Bing Thom Bing Wing Thom, (Traditional Chinese character, Chinese: 譚秉榮; 8 December 1940 – 4 October 2016) was a Canadian architect and urban designer. Born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with his family ...

Michael Wilford Michael James Wilford CBE (9 September 1938 – 10 March 2023) was an English architect from Hartfield, East Sussex. Wilford studied at the Northern Polytechnic School of Architecture, London, from 1955 to 1962, and at the Regent Street Polyt ...

Eberhard Zeidler Eberhard Zeidler may refer to: * Eberhard Heinrich Zeidler (1926–2022), German-Canadian architect * Eberhard Hermann Erich Zeidler (1940–2016), German mathematician {{hndis, Zeidler, Eberhard ...

, Fred Lebensold, Sir James Stirling,

Robert Venturi Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Together with his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown, he helped shape the way that ...

, and

Rafael Viñoly Rafael Viñoly Beceiro (1 June 1944 – 2 March 2023) was an Uruguayan-born architect based in New York. He was the principal of Rafael Viñoly Architects, which he founded in 1983. The firm has offices in New York City, Palo Alto, London, Ma ...

. Projects The following is a list of well known concert halls and projects Johnson created: * The Palladium, Carmel, Indiana USA * Orchestra Shell Renovation * Derngate Centre * Grand Theatre de Quebec *

* Crouse-Hinds Concert Theater * Hamilton Place in Canada * Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center *

in Montréal, Canada. *

in New York *

* Centre in the Square in Canada *

in Canada, along with

. *

in Florida. * Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami with

. *

, Philadelphia *

, Brazil * Culture and Congress Center, Lucerne, Switzerland * Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, with

I.M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

* Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England *

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay or nicknamed as The Durian is a performing arts centre located in the Downtown Core of Singapore near the mouth of the Singapore River. Named after the nearby Esplanade Park, it consists of two rounded struc ...

—Theatres on the Bay, Singapore *

renovation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada *

Fox Cities Performing Arts Center The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, also called the PAC, is a performing arts center in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin, US. The Center is the home of the Broadway Across America – Fox Cities series, the Boldt Arts Alive! series, the Spotlight ...

, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA *

Orange County Performing Arts Center The Segerstrom Center for the Arts (originally called Orange County Performing Arts Center) is a performing arts complex in Costa Mesa, California, Costa Mesa, California, United States, which opened in 1986. Designed by Charles Lawrence, the Cen ...

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

One of the last halls masterminded by the Johnson was the

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Three of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Wo ...

-designed Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in

Honours

Johnson was the recipient of several prestigious honours: *

United States Institute for Theatre Technology The United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) is a membership organization which aims to advance the skills and knowledge of theatre, entertainment and performing arts professionals involved in the areas of design, production and tec ...

Award (for lifelong commitment to excellence in architectural acoustics and theatre planning for performing arts spaces), 1996 * Wallace Clement Sabine Medal from the

Acoustical Society of America The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is an international scientific society founded in 1929 dedicated to generating, disseminating and promoting the knowledge of acoustics and its practical applications. The Society is primarily a voluntary org ...

in recognition of his lifetime contribution to advancing the knowledge of architectural acoustics, 1997 * the International Citation of Merit from the International Society of Performing Arts, 1998

Death

On August 9, 2007, Johnson died in his New York City apartment. A funeral service was held in

Berwick, Pennsylvania Berwick is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located southwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Wilkes-Barre. As of the 2020 United States census, 202 ...

on August 18. A Memorial service was held in The Allen Room,

Frederick P. Rose Frederick Phineas Rose (1923–1999) was an American real estate developer, philanthropist, and member of the Rose family. Biography Rose was born in Brooklyn

Hall, Home of

, New York City on November 7, 2007.

References

External links

(memorial website)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Russell 1920 births 20th-century American architects 2007 deaths