Moutoussamy, John W.
1922-1995 · Contribution: 1971
Designed the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters, the first high-rise in Chicago designed by a Black architect
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Remains, to date, the only Black architect to have designed a high-rise building in Chicago, with the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters housing the offices of Ebony and Jet magazines becoming a significant landmark of Black publishing history.
Life & background
A graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied under renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Moutoussamy became the first, and to date only, Black architect to design a high-rise building in Chicago: the Johnson Publishing Company headquarters, home to Ebony and Jet magazines. He went on to design several other notable Chicago buildings, including Richard J. Daley College and Harry S. Truman College.
Sources
- ICC Building Safety Journal (17 Black Architects); Docomomo US; Chicago Architecture Center; African American Registry
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