Design Icon – Architect

Michael P. Johnson is an internationally acclaimed architect and one of the founders of Desert Modernism in Arizona. His personal journey is the story of exploration, study and experience. He chose to take the solitary path to self development, skipping formal architectural education to read, travel and learn from the masters of architecture, learning by doing. His encounters and friendships with Wright, Geoff, Soleri, Rudolf and Kahn exposed him to their personalities, philosophies and built work. His 2500+ book library has allowed him to explore, understand and distill architecture to find his own essence. From his early architectural work in Wisconsin to the founding of his namesake firm in 1976 in Arizona his journey and exploration of organic architecture was profound and internationally recognized. In 1999 he designed the famed Yoder Residence on Camelback Mountain. A truly modernist structure of such simplistic and visionary form that showcased his understanding of architectural experiences. His portfolio expands to include a series of modern structures that explore his founding design principles. Spaces that create modern experiences that are founded on a rigorous design program but feel effortless, often ethereal. Creating architecture as art and art as life.