Prof Donald Langmead

Full description

Donald Langmead (29/8/1939-7/5/2011), architect, academic and architectural historian, was born and grew up in Adelaide. The son of a truck driver, he attended Adelaide Technical High School and then studied architecture at the South Australian Institute of Technology (SAIT; the University of South Australia (UniSA) from 1958, graduating with an Associateship Diploma of Architecture in 1966 and a Graduate Diploma in Town Planning in 1972. He then travelled to England to study at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, graduating with a Master of Science (Architecture) in 1974. He completed his doctoral dissertation, 'George Strickland Kingston: Pioneer and Architect' at the Flinders University of South Australia in 1983.
Choosing an academic career, Langmead was a Lecturer in Architecture at SAIT from 1967 to 1976, Senior Lecturer in Architectural History and acting Head of Interior Design from 1976 to 1980 and Senior Lecturer in Architectural History from 1981 to 1989. He became Principal Lecturer in 1990 and Head of the School of Architecture at UniSA from 1992 to 1996. In 1995 he was promoted to Associate Professor and in 1998 to Professor and Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design. From 1999 to 2002 he was Professor of Architectural History in the Louis Laybourne Smith School of Architecture and Design (LLS School). He initiated postgraduate research degrees in his school and in 2000 received the UniSA's inaugural Postgraduate Supervisor of the Year Award.
Langmead was a registered architect in South Australia between 1966 and 1997 and an Associate of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects from 1966 to 1991, during which time he was awarded the George Gavin Lawson Postgraduate Research Fellowship in Architecture (1977-1978). In 1984 he was a foundation member of the interim committee of the Society of Architectural Historians of Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ). He was a registered consultant with the Heritage Unit, South Australian Department of Planning and Development.
His research activities have included nineteenth century South Australian architectural history, major international figures in twentieth century architecture (funded by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts (Chicago) 2004-2006) and especially early twentieth century Dutch architecture. That latter interest has taken him to The Netherlands on several occasions (1974-1998), and as an exchange scholar under the aegis of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie voor Wetenschappen (1997). He has delivered seminar papers and public lectures on his research and published extensively producing book, annotated guides to the international literature on Dutch modernism and bio-bibliographies, conference papers and articles in scholarly journals.
Langmead's books include Accidental Architect: the life and times of George Strickland Kingston (Crossing Press, Sydney, 1994) and - all with Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut - Dutch modernism: architectural resources in the English language (1996) Willem Marinus Dudok, a Dutch modernist: a bio-bibliography (1996); J.J.P. Oud and the International Style: a bio-bibliography (1999); The artists of De Stijl: a guide to the literature (2000); Frank Lloyd Wright: a bio-bibliography (Praeger, Greenwood imprint, 2003) and Icons of American Architecture: from the Alamo to the World Trade Center, (2009). Maya Lin: a biography is in press (2010). With Donald Johnson he published The Adelaide City Plan: fiction and fact (Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 1986), Makers of 20th Century Modern Architecture (Greenwood, 1997) and Architectural Excursions: Frank Lloyd Wright, Holland and Europe (Greenwood, 2000) and with Christine Garnaut, Encyclopedia of Architectural and Engineering Feats (ABC-CLIO, California, 2001).
Langmead managed the architectural archives collection donated to UniSA in 1990 by Donald Johnson. He retired in February 2002 and was appointed Adjunct Professor in the LLS School (incorporated into the School of Art, Architecture and Design in 2008), UniSA.

Notes

Prof Donald Langmead is no longer affiliated with the University of South Australia.