John Moutoussamy

JPC headquarters at 820 S. Michigan Avenue in Chicago (designed by Moutoussamy), 1973

John Warren Moutoussamy (January 5, 1922 – May 6, 1995) was an American architect, best known for designing the headquarters building of the Johnson Publishing Company in downtown Chicago, Illinois. He was the first African-American architect to design a high-rise building in Chicago.

Early life He was born on January 5, 1922, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Jean Marie Moutoussamy (born Guadeloupe, 1883-1941) and Julia Nettie Walker (born St James, Louisiana, 1894-1972).

Moutoussamy earned a degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1948, where he studied under Mies van der Rohe. In his early career, he was mentored by architect Kenneth Roderick O'Neal.

Career Moutoussamy designed the 1971 headquarters building for the Johnson Publishing Company on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, which is still the only downtown Chicago high-rise building designed by an African-American. According to Architectural Digest, "Inside the stone-clad structure, colorful walls and psychedelic carpets exuded energy, celebrating black culture and commerce."

He was the first African-American architect to have a partnership in a major practice, Dubin Dubin Black & Moutoussamy.

Personal life Moutoussamy was married to Elizabeth Hunt (1922–2006), and they had three children, John Moutoussamy, Claude Moutoussamy and Jeanne Marie Moutoussamy-Ashe. Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe is a photographer, and was married to the tennis player Arthur Ashe from 1977 until his death in 1993.

He died in 1995, had a funeral Mass celebrated at St Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, and was buried at St Mary's Cemetery, Chicago.