Clayco and its subsidiary the Lamar Johnson Collective (LJC) have welcomed Architect Lucien Lagrange to the team.
Lagrange will join LJC as a principal and will act in the role of senior design consultant. Additionally, My-Nga Lam, Victor Krasnopolsky and Alfredo Marr will also join the team.
Since founding his own firm in 1985, 82-year-old Lagrange has completed some of the most noteworthy projects in Chicago, including the Park Tower on Michigan Avenue, the 60-story Waldorf Astoria and 2550 North Lakeview Avenue in Lincoln Park. His classic, pre-World War II style has also made him popular with high-profile homebuyers like Citadel’s Ken Griffin and Star Wars Creator George Lucas, who dropped nearly $20M on Park Tower’s 65th floor in 2015, reported the Chicago Tribune.
But despite his nationally renowned portfolio, Lagrange is not done yet. He still has big-scale projects already planned — and it is LJC that will help bring them to life.
“It’s going to give me more opportunities to do what I really want to do,” Lagrange told Chicago Tribune’s Brian J. Rogal. “What we want to do is bring back the elegance of Lake Shore Drive, especially as it was in the 1920s and 1930s.”
With the addition of the new team, LJC will have a staff of over 250 and offices in Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Kansas City and Atlanta. Current projects include the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park and the $8.5B O’Hare International Airport.