Johnson has worked at The Architects' Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and Johnson Burgee in New York City.
[3] In 1983, he relocated to Los Angeles where he became Design Director and Principal at Pereira Associates.
[2][3] Johnson and his firm have been the recipient of many awards for design excellence and have designed projects ranging from the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Museum Tower in Dallas, Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California and the Capital Area East End Complex at California’s State Capitol.
The work is also well-known abroad where the firm has completed projects throughout the Asian Pacific Rim.
He has authored a number of books including The Big Idea, Criticality and Practice in Contemporary Architecture, Tectonics of Place: The Architecture of Johnson Fain, a series of 3 books on the design of tall buildings, and Uncommon Ground: Notes on the Visual Arts + Architecture.