In this episode of Architecture, Design & Photography we sit down with Scott Johnson and Bill Fain, founding partners of Johnson Fain. They discuss the 25-year transformation of Oklahoma City Oil Field Number One into First Americans Museum (FAM), which honors the state’s 39 tribes. The project was highly collaborative and engaging, incorporating Native American advisors to help shape the overall design approach. Conceptually, FAM is a spiral that begins in the earth and ascends to the heavens. The museum’s western arc features permanent and rotating exhibitions, and its northern arc houses theaters, retail, dining, and other services necessary in modern museums.

Architect and urban designer Bill Fain, FAIA, directs master planning and urban design at Johnson Fain. He has won several national AIA and Progressive Architecture awards for projects including Mission Bay in San Francisco, Beijing’s Central Business District, and the Greenways Plan for Los Angeles. Bill has received two Fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities and was the recipient of a Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, Italy. He has a Bachelor of Architecture degree from UC Berkeley and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Firm partner and creative lead Scott Johnson, FAIA, has designed nearly 100 built projects in the past 20 years. Further, he has taught and lectured at various universities, including directing the Master of Architecture Programs at the University of Southern California’s School of Architecture. Scott is the author of Essays on the Tall Building and the City, Performative Skyscraper Tall Building Design Now, The Big Idea: Criticality and Practice in Contemporary Architecture, Tall Building: Imagining the Skyscraper, and Tectonics of Place: The Architecture of Johnson Fain. He holds a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Bill and Scott met at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In 1987, they acquired renowned Los Angeles firm Pereira Associates, rebranding it Johnson Fain.

More from Johnson Fain:

Website: https://johnsonfain.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnsonfain/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/johnsonfain/

First Americans Museum: https://famok.org