For decades, Ebony and Jet magazines stood as towering pillars in American media, serving as the definitive chroniclers of Black life, culture, politics, and achievement. Published by the Johnson Publishing Company, these influential periodicals gave national visibility to stories, communities, and historical moments that mainstream media frequently overlooked, cementing the corporation as the era’s most dominant Black-owned media empire. Today, the enduring cultural footprint of that legacy is celebrated in a brand-new monograph from MW Editions, titled 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon.
The 240-page volume immortalizes the physical manifestation of that cultural empire: the company’s former headquarters located at 820 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Completed in 1972, the building was more than just a corporate office space; it was a physical fortress of Black excellence, autonomy, and sophisticated design. More than forty years after its completion, photographer Barbara Karant gained access to the now-abandoned structure, spending years documenting its kaleidoscopic patterns, preserved mirrored surfaces, and remarkably intact 1970s interiors before the space was fundamentally altered. Her stunning photographs form the visual backbone of the new book, capturing a lost chapter of architectural and design history that resonates deeply with contemporary artists, historians, and designers alike.
The story of 820 South Michigan Avenue began with formidable challenges that underscored the systemic obstacles faced by Black entrepreneurs during the era. Publisher John H. Johnson encountered persistent resistance from traditional real estate brokers, downtown developers, and commercial bankers who were hesitant to finance a major high-rise project spearheaded by a Black-owned media company. Refusing to be deterred, Johnson forged ahead to bring his vision to life. To design the corporate headquarters, he commissioned John Moutoussamy, who made history as the first Black architect to design a downtown high-rise in Chicago.
Departing from the cold, uniform glass-and-steel skyscrapers that defined corporate architecture in the early 1970s, Johnson envisioned a structure defined by permanence, dignity, and distinct character. Moutoussamy successfully delivered on that brief, conceiving a restrained, elegant exterior clad entirely in classic travertine marble. The building commanded a powerful presence along Michigan Avenue, signaling to the city and the nation that the Johnson Publishing Company was a permanent fixture of American industry and culture.
While the exterior exuded refined architectural restraint, stepping inside the building revealed an interior world of bold, expressive, and unapologetic creativity. To curate the workspaces, Johnson enlisted the renowned Palm Springs interior design duo Arthur Elrod and William Raiser. The pair took a radical approach, assigning each of the building’s eleven floors its own unique combination of vibrant color palettes and striking geometric patterns. The resulting interiors reflected the ambitious cultural identity and forward-thinking ethos of the publishing powerhouse.
Every floor offered a distinct visual experience. The employee cafeteria, for instance, featured a dynamic pairing of orange, purple, and gold chevrons that energized the communal space. In contrast, the private office of co-founder Eunice Johnson was styled in sophisticated cream-and-honey tones, thoughtfully integrated with pieces drawn from the couple’s expansive private art collection. Throughout the various departments, the designers deployed bold patterned carpets, mirrored wall surfaces, geometric wallpapers, and rich, textured finishes that captured the peak of 1970s interior design while maintaining a distinctly sophisticated corporate atmosphere.
Remarkably, a vast majority of these intricate interior design choices remained untouched and remarkably well-preserved long after the Johnson Publishing Company eventually departed the building in 2012. Recognizing the historical and aesthetic significance of the space, photographer Barbara Karant began her extensive documentation project the following year, continuing her photographic survey through 2018. With the original office furnishings removed, Karant’s camera focused intensely on the enduring surfaces and structural details that defined the headquarters’ unique visual language.
Her lens captured geometric wallpapers, mirrored dressing rooms, and the hypnotic, swirling laminate cabinetry of the corporate Test Kitchen, whose psychedelic patterns bear a striking resemblance to traditional Italian marbled paper. Across her compositions, strategic use of mirrors doubles and multiplies architectural motifs, creating a sense of infinite reflection. Meanwhile, the grand picture windows of the executive floor continue to frame sweeping, evocative views of Lake Michigan and Grant Park, anchoring the vibrant interior spaces in the distinct urban landscape of Chicago.
The profound emptiness of the building captured in Karant’s photographs imbues the images with a unique and haunting power. Stripped of the bustling employees, stacks of freshly printed magazines, and day-to-day corporate activity that once animated the headquarters, the empty rooms transform into meditative studies in color, material, and form. They stand not only as brilliant works of interior photography, but also as poignant records of a workplace and a cultural institution that no longer exists in its original physical incarnation.
The monograph expands far beyond Karant’s contemporary architectural photography by incorporating rich historical material. The book features archival documentary images of the original furnished interiors, behind-the-scenes glimpses into Ebony’s in-house photo studio, and documentation of Richard Hunt’s striking site-specific lobby sculpture, Expansive Construction, which was installed when the building opened in 1972. To provide a holistic narrative, the volume includes firsthand recollections from former employees who share intimate accounts of daily life inside the bustling headquarters.
Furthermore, the book explores the profound, lasting influence the building and the publishing company have had on subsequent generations of contemporary artists, including luminaries such as Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Kwame Brathwaite, Lorna Simpson, Martine Syms, and David Hartt. Their reflections demonstrate how the visual and cultural legacy of the Johnson Publishing Company continues to reverberate through contemporary art and design discourse.
Weighing in at 240 pages, 820 Ebony/Jet brings together a meticulously curated collection of 142 color photographs and eight black-and-white images. The volume is introduced by a compelling foreword written by artist Deborah Willis, accompanied by insightful essays from contributors Aaron Bryant, Cheryl Finley, Carla Williams, Jon Ott, Brenna Wynn Greer, and E. James West. Together, these texts and images work to preserve a vital and often overlooked chapter of American architectural and design history, honoring the physical environment that was purposefully crafted for two groundbreaking publications that radically transformed how Black American life was seen, documented, and celebrated on the national and global stage.
Published by MW Editions, 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon is scheduled for release on October 13, with a retail price of $65.
