Johnson building impresses Cooper

BLUEPRINT Building: S.C. Johnson and Son Inc. Administration Building, Racine Completed: 1939 Builder: Wiltscheck and Nelson Inc., Racine Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Biggest Fan: Robert Cooper, Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc., Milwaukee

Robert Cooper said he likes the way the S.C. Johnson Administration Building in Racine makes him feel like he's outside even after he walks in.

He also feels like he is submerged in a pond, looking up at lily pads silhouetted against the sunlight.

"It's the idea of thinking about a building that works as a harmonious, special kind of sculpture," said Cooper, principal with Milwaukee-based Eppstein Uhen Architects Inc. "It has to do with what materials are used, the colors, textures, how light is introduced and, of course, (Frank Lloyd) Wright went to the next step and designed all the furniture in it too."

Cooper said Wright originally wanted to put Johnson's new office and research center in the country, but the company picked a site in Racine surrounded by industrial buildings. In designing the building, Wright focused everything inward to avoid the rough facilities that surrounded the site.

"It's hard to do that and not make people feel trapped, but the way the light is introduced into the building you don't get the feeling of confinement," Cooper said.

Photos courtesy of S.C. Johnson and Son Inc.

Windows are sparse on the outer walls, and the interior focuses on the open office area in the center. The central office courtyard, supported by columns that rise up to "lily pads" at the ceiling, was a pioneering use of the open-office concept in architecture, Cooper said.

"It shows you the way an architect can think outside of the box to develop a work environment that was conducive to people working in a cooperative way," he said. "It was one of the first experiments in open-office areas, which now, of course, are used all the time."

Cooper said that perhaps the strongest testament to the building's value is how it has transcended its basic role as a place of work to become an image that people recall when they think about S.C. Johnson.

"The building became part of the whole culture of the company," he said. "It became part of their image in this world. That's not an easy thing to do in this world with a building."

- Sean Ryan