Russell Johnson (acoustician)

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For other people named Russell Johnson, see Russell Johnson (disambiguation).
Russell Johnson
Born
Frederick Russell Johnson

September 14, 1923
Yale
OccupationArchitect

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

Pikes Peak Center in Colorado, Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in Canada and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts
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.

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

In 2004,

Wired Magazine, Variety, and the Los Angeles Times.[2][5][6][7][8][9]

Career

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

Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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,

Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and Place des Arts
.

As chairman Johnson also led Artec on projects such as the Harpa (concert hall) in Reykjavík, the Winspear Centre in Edmonton, Domaine Forget in Charlevoix and acoustical upgrade of the Roy Thomson Hall.[10] 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

Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Symphony Hall in Boston
; 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

I.M. Pei, Moshe Safdie, Barton Myers, Bing Thom, Michael Wilford, Eberhard Zeidler, Fred Lebensold, Sir James Stirling, Robert Venturi, and Rafael Viñoly
.

Projects The following is a list of well known concert halls and projects Johnson created:

One of the last halls masterminded by the Johnson was the

Costa Mesa.[11]

Honours

Johnson was the recipient of several prestigious honours:

Death

On August 9, 2007, Johnson died in his New York City apartment. A funeral service was held in Berwick, Pennsylvania on August 18. A Memorial service was held in The Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City on November 7, 2007.

References

  1. ^ "Water music: The Lucerne Festival - News & Advice, Travel". The Independent. 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  2. ^ a b Martin, Douglas (2007-08-10). "Russell Johnson, Who Transformed the Sound in Concert Halls, Dies at 83 - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  3. ^ ARTHUR KAPTAINIS, Freelance September 3, 2011 (2011-09-03). "Concert hall architect is open minded". Montrealgazette.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ James, Jamie (2004-06-28). "Asia: Classical music's new superpower". TIME. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  5. ^ Ginell, Richard S. (2006-09-18). "Variety Reviews - Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall Inaugural Concert - Music Reviews - - Review by Richard S. Ginell". Variety.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  6. ^ Glanz, James (2000-04-18). "Art + Physics = Beautiful Music - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  7. ^ Paul Bennett (2002-05-27). "All Blobs Lead to Rome". Wired.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  8. ^ Jepson, Barbara (2005-03-24). "Acoustical Tales: What Concert Halls Get Wrong". WSJ.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  9. ^ "Rattled of Symphony Hall: Birmingham's bid for new greatness included balletic endeavour, Olympic attempts, and brave new temples of culture. Then the city council changed its tune. Nick Cohen reports - Life & Style". The Independent. 1994-03-09. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  10. ^ Woo, Elaine (2007-08-10). "Russell Johnson, 83; innovative acoustician for classical music venues - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  11. ^ "/ Arts - American Composers Festival; Orange County, California". Ft.com. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
  12. ^ "Russell Johnson Biography". Russelljohnsonlegacy.com. Retrieved 2011-10-22.

External links

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