robert s ingersoll – DesignApplause

mies van der rohe partner joe fujikawa mid-century home recently sells.

Aug 12, 2022

chicago architect joesph (joe) fujikawa‘s home recently sold. this news was startling because i was in this house a long time ago. joe was my second client in my own newly formed business in the late 70s, my first client being chicago mayor michael (j) daley. joe, asked me to create an identity and an award for the world trade council in chicago. there i met the president of the association, robert s ingersoll. mr. ingersoll was chairman and chief executive of the chicago-based borg-warner corporation as well as former ambassador to japan. this began an enormous run of commercial real estate projects. and i picked up mentors in joe and jerry (johnson).

i asked joe if he loved art. he said, “ron i love it ! i just don’t have a place to hang it.”

fujikawa was a californian who studied architecture at illinois institute of technology in the 1940s and 1950s under ludwig mies van der rohe and then worked in mies’ chicago firm, becoming a partner.

after mies’ death in 1969, fujikawa was a partner in the successor firm, fujikawa conterato lohan associates. in the 1980s, fujikawa founded a new firm, fujikawa johnson. fujikawa contributed to mies’ crown hall at illinois tech and other buildings, and his later firm designed the chicago mercantile exchange on wacker drive, the metcalfe federal building in the loop and one illinois center, among others.

along with his wife, grace, and two children, fujikawa lived in hyde park until building this house around 1971, his son, steve fujikawa, told crain’s before putting the house on the market in october. the architect died in 2004, and grace fujikawa died in 2016.

steve fujikawa told crain’s that when the family moved in, he was in high school and didn’t quite apprehend that the house was anything special compared to the colonials and other traditional-looking homes in the neighborhood. he grew convinced when his friends at new trier township high school, about six blocks south, “always told me i lived in the coolest house.”

the house is the latest in a series of midcentury suburban homes to sell quickly this year. among the others are houses in riverwoods, indian head park and chicago heights.

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381 fairview avenue, winnetka, il 60093
$765,000
modernist trophy in east winnetka. brilliant architectural design and engineering by noted mies van der rohe associate joseph fujikawa built as his own private residence. open floor plan that is terrific for entertaining or peaceful enjoyment. metal floating stairs are reminiscent of mies’ arts club stairs, one of chicago’s famed design icons. large continuous balcony off bedrooms that overlook tiered garden and private backyard. built-in cabinetry, terrazzo floors and more.

Chicago Architect Joseph Y Fujikawa, 81.

Jan 30, 2004

joseph (joe)) fujikawa, 81, died december 31, 2003, at his winnetka home.

joseph fujikawa, born 1922 in los angeles, was an american architect who worked with ludwig mies van der rohe and took over his office after mies died.

his architecture was heavily influenced by his teacher and boss. his associates would say joe wanted to be more like mies than mies himself.

he began his studies of architecture in 1940 at the university of southern california and finished his undergraduate degree at the illinois institute of technology in 1944.

he also did a master’s degree under mies van der rohe at iit. in 1944 fujikawa started his architectural career in the office of mies van der rohe. in 1976, some years after mies’s death, the name of the firm was changed to fujikawa, conterato, lohan & associates. in 1982 fujikawa joined gerald (jerry) johnson and founded fujikawa johnson & associates.

fujikawa’s was forced to relocate to a colorado internment camp during his junior year of college led him to iit. he said, “i was there for about three months until i was admitted to iit. i applied because i heard mies was director, and i knew mies only by reputation from a book called the international style. the barcelona pavilion of mies’s was in there. that really impressed me.” mies said, “ja, come,” and fujikawa remained devoted to the miesian vocabulary for all his life.

survivors include his wife, grace; his daughter, elizabeth; his son, stephen; two sisters, aster ikezoye and mary nakatsu; and a brother, john fujikawa.

[ notable buildings ]
55 east erie, chicago
the buckingham, 360 east randolph, chicago
chicago mercantile exchange, 20 south wacker drive, chicago above > chicago mercantile exchange | 1987
columbus plaza, chicago
fairmont hotel, 200 north columbus drive, chicago
metcalfe federal building, 77 west jackson boulevard, chicago
north harbor tower, 175 north harbor drive, chicago
three illinois center, 303 east wacker drive, chicago
mutual benefit life building, chicago
two illinois center, chicago

fujikawa conterato lohan: formerly the office of mies van der rohe, was my second client in my own newly formed business. the first being chicago mayor michael (j) daley. i was asked by joe to create an identity and an award (above) for the world trade association in chicago. there i met the president of the association, robert s ingersoll. mr. ingersoll was chairman and chief executive of the chicago-based borg-warner corporation as well as former ambassador to japan. this began a great run of commercial real estate projects for my business. and i picked up mentors in both joe and jerry.