Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) has announced that Jeanne Gang, the founding principal of Studio Gang, Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee, founders and principals of Johnston Marklee, will teach at Harvard GSD's Practice of Architecture - their roles will be effective July 1, 2018.

Appointed as Professors, Jeanne Gang (MArch ’93), Sharon Johnston (MArch ’95), and Mark Lee (MArch ’95), three Harvard graduates, having the vast wealth of experience and leadership, will share their visions and contributions that they have gained in architecture and urbanism in practice, not only to the Department of Architecture, but also to the broader GSD community.

Studio Gang's design a shiny lattice work harmonized with concrete to interact with the local people. Image Steve Hall © Hedrich Blessing

Jeanne Gang is the founding principal of Studio Gang, an international architecture and urban design practice based in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. Her analytical and deeply interdisciplinary approach has produced award-winning projects across scales and typologies, from cultural and public buildings to urban parks and high-rise towers. 

Gang's projects include the Writers Theatre and the 82-story Aqua Tower in Chicago, among many others. She is currently designing major projects throughout the Americas and Europe. These include an expansion to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the new United States Embassy in Brasília, Brazil. Gang received a Master in Architecture with Distinction from the GSD in 1993, has taught at the GSD as Design Critic in Architecture since 2011, and was the John Portman Design Critic in Architecture in 2017.

Sale House, Venice, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 2004. Image courtesy of Johnston Marklee

Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee are founders and principals of Johnston Marklee, established in 1998. 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. They also served as Co-Artistic Directors of the 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial and participated in the GSD’s symposium at the Biennial last September. Johnston and Lee each earned a Master in Architecture from the GSD in 1995.

Prior to their appointment as Professors in Practice at the GSD, Johnston and Lee have taught at several other schools. Sharon previously 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. 

Mark has 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. Johnston and Lee also have taught as Design Critics at the GSD since 2013, and each has served as a visiting critic at institutions around the world.

Top image: (Left) Jeanne Gang (image courtesy of Harvard GSD), Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee (image © Eric Staudenmaier)

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