
Karl Langer (1903–1969) was an Austrian-born architect in
Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. A number of his works are listed on the
Queensland Heritage Register
The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As ...
.
Early life in Austria
Karl Langer was born in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1903, where he lived until emigrating to Australia in 1939 with his wife Gertrude. Karl studied architecture in Vienna, most notably in the Master Class run by
Peter Behrens, at the Viennese Academy graduating in 1926. During this time Karl worked in the office of Josef Frank, who was to become well known in Swedish modernism, and later in the office of Schmidt and Aichinger. In 1928 he was appointed the architect in charge of Behrens Vienna office, where he designed and supervised important works such as the tobacco factory in Linz, Austria. At this time he also commenced studies in Art History at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...
, graduating as a Doctor of Philosophy in 1933 with a thesis entitled "Origins and Development of Concrete Construction". In 1935 Karl established his own practice in Vienna.
In 1932 he married a fellow student
Gertrude Froeschel. They graduated the following year on the same night, with Doctorates of Philosophy in Art History. In 1938 with the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich, Gertrude, who was Jewish, and Karl left Vienna and traveled via Athens to Australia.
[
]
Career in Australia
Karl and Gertrude arrived in Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in May 1939 proceeding to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
in July so that Karl could commence work for architects Cook and Kerrison. From the time of their arrival until their deaths the Langers dedicated themselves to a great variety of civic and professional activities. Their combined efforts greatly influenced the development of the arts and design in Queensland, especially through such organisations as the Queensland Art Gallery
The Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) is an art museum located in South Bank, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The gallery is part of QAGOMA. It complements the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) building, situated only away.
The Queensland Art Galle ...
Society, the Australian Council for the Arts
Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia.
The council was announc ...
and the Vacation Schools of Creative Art in which they fulfilled key roles over many years.[
Karl became well known throughout Australia shortly after his arrival when his appointment to the position of Assistant Town Planner with the ]Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...
in 1944 resulted in a Parliamentary Enquiry. The primary cause for complaint was the appointment of an "alien refugee" over a returned soldier. The outcome of this enquiry found that Karl Langer was an individual whose talent and experience clearly distinguished him as the most suitable applicant. He was still prevented from taking up the position, as Queensland Railways
Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Queensland Rail is owned by the Queensland Government, and operates both suburban and interurban rail services in South East Queensland, as well as long-distance passenger t ...
, his employer, refused to release him invoking wartime manpower regulations. He remained in the service of the Queensland Railways until 1946 when he left to establish his architectural and planning practice in Brisbane. He worked throughout Australia and was the initiator of many influential urban design ideas such as the site for the Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...
and the pedestrianization of Queen Street.
Karl lectured at the University of Queensland
The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
and the Queensland Institute of Technology
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, ...
in design, town planning and landscape architecture. Research carried out when he first arrived in Brisbane pioneered the field of climatic design and resulted in the 1944 publication of an influential booklet called "Subtropical Housing". He was instrumental in establishing, and was the first president of the Brisbane division of the Australian Planning Institute and the Queensland Branch of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) is the Australian non profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of Australian landscape architects.
History
The AILA was established in 1966 with an interim commit ...
and was a Fellow of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects
The Australian Institute of Architects, officially the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (abbreviated as RAIA), is Australia's professional body for architects. Its members use the post-nominals FRAIA (Fellow), ARAIA (Associate Member) an ...
.[
]
Later life
Karl Langer died in 1969. His funeral was held in the Chapel of St Peter's Lutheran College
St Peters Lutheran College Chapel is a heritage-listed chapel on the campus of St Peters Lutheran College in Indooroopilly, Queensland, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, Australia. It was designed by Karl Langer (architect), Karl Langer and built in 19 ...
, Indooroopilly
Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people.
Geography
Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...
, which he had designed. He was cremated at the Mount Thompson Crematorium
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens and Crematorium (formerly Brisbane Crematorium) includes a heritage-listed chapel (the West Chapel), columbaria and other features. It is located on north-western slopes of Mount Thompson (Queensland), Mount Thomp ...
where he had constructed the East Chapel.
Karl Langer's work was featured in the Hot Modernism exhibition at the State Library of Queensland
State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...
in 2014.[ State Library of Queensland also holds a large number of his architectural plans.
The University of Queensland ]Fryer Library
The University of Queensland Library (UQ Library, founded in 1910) provides library access to students of the University of Queensland in Brisbane. It developed from a small provincial university library into a major research library.East, John ...
holds 89 boxes and around 1800 of Langer's architectural plans.
Works
He was the designer of buildings, including:
* the Main Roads Building at Spring Hill
* St Peter's Lutheran College Chapel at Indooroopilly
Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people.
Geography
Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...
* his own home Langer House at St Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
[
* Val Vallis' home in Twigg St, Indooroopilly]
* the Four Seasons Hotel
* West's Furniture Showroom at Fortitude Valley (1952)
* extensions to Lennons Hotel, Brisbane (1957)
and worked in the regional centres of Queensland as an architect, town planner and landscape architect, producing these works:[
* the assembly hall at ]Ipswich Girls Grammar School
Ipswich Girls' Grammar School (IGGS) is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding school for girls in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.
The school is one of the eight original 'Queensland Grammar Schools'. These schools are independen ...
* St John's Lutheran Church at Bundaberg
Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...
* Sugar Research Institute at Mackay Mackay may refer to:
*Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives
Mackay may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Mackay Region, a local government area
** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region
*** Mackay Airport ...
* Lennons Broadbeach Hotel on the Gold Coast
* Lennons Hotel, Toowoomba
Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...
He also authored a number of books, including ''Sub-tropical housing'', published in 1944 by the University of Queensland.
See also
* :Karl Langer buildings
References
Attribution
Bibliography
* Neale, Douglas,
The 'Essentials' of The Sub-Tropical House: An Exegesis of the 'Modernistic' Town Planning Principals'
''LIMITS: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand,'' ed. H. Edquis and H. Frichot (Melbourne: SAHANZ, 2004), 346–352
* Sinnamon, Ian
'Langer, Karl (1903–1969)'
Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 2000.
* Sterken, Sven & Lisa Daunt, �
From Austria to Australia: Three Lutheran Churches by Karl Langer
�� in ''Proceedings of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand 36, Distance Looks Back,'' edited by Victoria Jackson Wyatt, Andrew Leach and Lee Stickells (Sydney: SAHANZ, 2020), 350-61.
*
* Wilson, Andrew
"Karl Langer's subtropical housing"
AAANZ 2008 Annual Conference, 4-6 December, 2008, Brisbane, Australia.
External links
*
*Langer, Karl (1940-1968), ''Karl Langer Architectural Plans'', John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland
Karl Langer Papers
Fryer Library, University of Queensland
Digitising the Karl Langer architectural plans
John Oxley Library blog, State Library of Queensland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langer, Karl
20th-century Australian architects
1903 births
1969 deaths
Artists from Vienna
University of Vienna alumni
Architects from Brisbane
Emigrants from Austria after the Anschluss
Austrian emigrants to Australia
20th-century Austrian architects
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register