The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® ___________________________________ WILLIAM “BILL” JOHNSON ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT ___________________________________ Interviews Conducted August 25-28, 2015 By Charles A. Birnbaum, FASLA, FAAR The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Series: Bill Johnson Interview Transcript PRELUDE .......................................................................................................................................... 7 BIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................................... 7 CHILDHOOD .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Growing Up in Lansing, MI .................................................................................................................... 7 Family ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Parents .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Family Life During the Depression .................................................................................................... 9 Outdoor Memories ......................................................................................................................... 10 The Power of Art ............................................................................................................................. 10 Streets of Lansing ............................................................................................................................ 12 A Sense of Scale .............................................................................................................................. 13 Teaching Scale to his Children ........................................................................................................ 13 World War II .................................................................................................................................... 14 Father Designs and Builds an Airplane............................................................................................ 14 EDUCATION ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Choosing Landscape Architecture ....................................................................................................... 15 How Earth and Water All Go Together ........................................................................................... 16 The Midwest and the Dutch Attitude ............................................................................................. 17 Exploring the Campus of Michigan State University ....................................................................... 18 Michigan State University ................................................................................................................... 19 Mentors at Michigan State University ............................................................................................ 19 Thoughts on the Michigan State Landscape Architecture Program ............................................... 19 The Exchange Problem and Meeting Hideo Sasaki ......................................................................... 20 The Beauty of My Assignment ............................................................................................................ 22 Brand-new MG TF, Red ................................................................................................................... 22 European Gardens .......................................................................................................................... 23 Responsibility I Didn't Bargain for ................................................................................................... 24 The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) ................................................................................... 25 Moving to Cambridge ..................................................................................................................... 25 1 © 2017 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, all rights reserved. May not be used or reproduced without permission. The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Series: Bill Johnson Interview Transcript Meeting Pete Walker ...................................................................................................................... 25 A More Open Kind of Teaching ....................................................................................................... 26 GSD - Chalk Drawing Classes ........................................................................................................... 27 GSD – Faculty Critiques ................................................................................................................... 28 GSD - Collaborating with Architects ................................................................................................ 29 Hideo Sasaki’s Office - Watertown, MA .......................................................................................... 30 The Harvard Experience and Returning to the Midwest ................................................................ 30 PRACTICE ................................................................................................................................................. 31 Detroit Planning Commission ............................................................................................................. 31 Detroit ............................................................................................................................................. 32 Conversations with Hideo Sasaki .................................................................................................... 33 University of Michigan – Department of Landscape Architecture ..................................................... 34 Walt Chambers................................................................................................................................ 34 The University of Michigan Campus Expansion Plan .......................................................................... 35 “We Don’t Have a Plan, but We Need One” ................................................................................... 35 North Campus ................................................................................................................................. 36 Medical Center ................................................................................................................................ 37 Central Campus ............................................................................................................................... 37 The Diagram .................................................................................................................................... 38 Johnson, Johnson & Roy (JJR) ............................................................................................................. 39 Brother Carl’s Concerns .................................................................................................................. 39 Brothers .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Influence of Jens Jensen, Hubbard & Kimball ................................................................................. 41 Three Members of JJR in Place ....................................................................................................... 41 Working with Carl and Clarence ..................................................................................................... 43 Areas of Expertise within JJR ........................................................................................................... 44 Clarence Roy ................................................................................................................................... 45 JJR Leads the Way – Regional Focus ............................................................................................... 46 Saudi Arabia .................................................................................................................................... 47 2 © 2017 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, all rights reserved. May not be used or reproduced without permission. The Cultural Landscape Foundation® Pioneers of American Landscape Design® Oral History Series: Bill Johnson Interview Transcript University of Michigan - School of Natural Resources ........................................................................ 48 The Search for a Dean for the SNR ................................................................................................. 48 Diagram for the School of Natural Resources ................................................................................. 50 The Chopping Block (budget cuts at the University of Michigan)................................................... 51 Women Students in the Michigan Program in the 1960s ..............................................................