Guide to the Papers of Colin Madigan, 1900-2002

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9863

Creator:

Madigan, Colin

Extent:

(27 ms boxes + 7 medium folio boxes + 9 large folio boxes + 7 outsize phase boxes + 3 elephant folios + 4 map folios)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Colin Madigan, National Library of Australia, MS 9863, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers comprise correspondence, plans, drawings, reports and photographs, the majority of which were produced by Madigan in the pursuit of his architectural work.

The drawings and plans are from all periods of Madigan's creative life including his earliest student drawings. Some of Madigan's most important architectural projects are well documented in the papers, particularly his work on the National Gallery of Australia.

The only material not related to Madigan's architectural work is the series covering his war service and the sinking of the HMAS Armidale in 1942.

Within the plans series there are also a number of drawings and plans produced by Frederick Madigan, Colin Madigan's father, and correspondence and other papers relating to a proposed biography of Madigan by Geoffrey Serle.

Biographical Note:

Colin Madigan was born in 1921 in Glen Innes, NSW. His father, Frederick John Madigan, also an architect, had a practice in Inverell at which Madigan began working as an assistant at 14 years of age. Madigan began studying architecture at Sydney Technical College in 1939. However, he interrupted his studies during the Second World War by enlisting in the Royal Australian Navy, in which he served until 1946. In December 1942 he survived for ten days in open seas after the sinking by Japanese military forces of his ship HMAS Armidale. Madigan qualified as an architect in 1950 and in 1954 became a principal within the architectural firm of Edwards Madigan Torzillo, later named Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs International or EMTBI. A number of buildings produced by the firm EMTB received architectural awards, including the Sulman Prize in 1966 and 1970.

Madigan designed a number of houses, but worked between 1950 and 1967 predominately on a range of public buildings including libraries and colleges. The major projects he worked on, completed between 1968 and 1982, were the National Gallery of Australia and the High Court of Australia, both of which are in the Parliamentary zone of Canberra.

Madigan commenced work on the High Court of Australia after its designer Christopher Kringas (of Edwards Madigan Torzillo Briggs) died in March 1975, just prior to the start of construction in April 1975.

Working on these two buildings, Madigan became particularly interested and involved in the planning and design of the entire Parliamentary zone. In the 1980s he was a finalist in the Parliament House competition and worked on a Parliamentary Zone Development Plan. From 1982 he also served on the National Capital Planning Committee and lectured and corresponded widely on the subject of Canberra.

Madigan won a number of architectural awards and was RAIA Gold Medallist in 1981. After declining a C.B.E, he was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1984.

Madigan married Ruby Court-Rice in 1950. They had one son, Guy.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers were donated to the National Library of Australia by Colin Madigan under the Cultural Gifts Program in five instalments between 1997 and 2003.

Arrangement:

The papers have been ordered into 14 series in relation to the form or subject of the material. Where there was an order established by Madigan within any series, that has been largely maintained.

Indexed terms

Names:

Madigan, Colin

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn759843).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Colin Madigan, National Library of Australia, MS 9863, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us