Mark Lee, a principal and founding partner of the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee, has been announced as the new Chair of the Department of Architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD), Lee's role will be effective starting from July 1, 2018.

Lee has taught at Harvard GSD since 2013 and was recently named Professor in Practice of Architecture. Lee is running his company with his partner Sharon Johnston since 1998. Lee succeeds K. Michael Hays, Eliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Theory and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, who has taught at Harvard GSD since 1988 and served as Interim Chair of the Department of Architecture since 2016.

Vault House, Oxnard, California, 2013. Image © Eric Staudenmaier

“I am delighted that Mark Lee has agreed to serve as the next Chair of the Department of Architecture,” said Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean and Alexander and Victoria Wiley Professor of Design at Harvard GSD. 

"Johnston Marklee is one of the most talented practices currently working in the United States and beyond, and Mark deeply understands the contemporary world of architecture. His vision and leadership will enormously benefit our students and our School in the years to come. As we welcome Mark to this role, I am also incredibly grateful to Michael Hays for his unwavering and ongoing dedication to the Department of Architecture and the GSD."

“I am honored to be entrusted with the chairmanship of the Department of Architecture at the GSD,” said Lee. “In advancing both the discipline and the profession of architecture, the Department has been without parallel; I look forward to building upon the formidable achievements of my predecessors and this deeply-rooted tradition of excellence. We stand on the threshold of a very challenging, but exciting, future. I feel confident that architecture’s best days lie ahead.”

View House on the outskirts of Rosario, Argentina, Johnston Marklee. Image © Sergio Pirrone

Lee is a principal and founding partner of Johnston Marklee, which since its establishment in 1998 has been recognized nationally and internationally with over 30 major awards. Projects undertaken by Johnston Marklee span seven countries throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia. 

Current projects include the renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, which opened in September 2017; the new UCLA Graduate Art Studios campus in Culver City, California; and the Menil Drawing Institute in Houston, to be completed in 2018. Along with partner Sharon Johnston (MArch '95), Lee served as Co-Artistic Director of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial, and participated in the GSD’s symposium at the Biennial last September.

Menil Drawing Institute in Houston will be completed in 2018. Image courtesy of Johnston Marklee / The Menil Collection

Prior to his appointment as Professor in Practice at Harvard GSD, Lee held the position of Frank Gehry Chair at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design at the University of Toronto, and Cullinan Guest Professor at Rice University School of Architecture, in addition to appointments at ETH (Zurich) and UCLA. 

Lee has taught as a design critic at the GSD since 2013, and has served as a visiting critic at institutions around the world. He was also a member of Harvard GSD’s 2018 Wheelwright Prize jury. Lee earned a Master in Architecture from the GSD in 1995.

Top image: Mark Lee, image © Eric Staudenmaier

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