Colin Frederick Madigan AO (22 July 192117 September 2011) was an Australian architect. He is best known for designing the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

Biography

Born in

Glen Innes, New South Wales Glen Innes is a parish and town on the Northern Tablelands, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the centre of the Glen Innes Severn Shire Council. The town is located at the intersection of the New England Highway and ...

, Madigan studied architecture at

Sydney Technical College The Sydney Technical College, now known as the TAFE New South Wales Sydney Institute, is a technical school established in 1878, that superseded the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. The college is one of Australia's oldest technical education i ...

from 1939 to 1941. He enlisted in the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

in 1941, and was one of the few survivors of the sinking of the corvette HMAS ''Armidale'' off

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

in 1942. In 1951 Madigan, Maurice Edwards and Jack Torzillo formed the firm, "Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Partners", whose work was mostly on public projects such as public housing, public libraries, schools and offices. A notable building from this period was the

Warringah Council Warringah Council was a local government area in the northern beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed on 7 March 1906 as the Warringah Shire Council, and became "Warringah Council" in 1993. In 1992 ...

Library at

Dee Why Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Be ...

, New South Wales, which was awarded the

Sir John Sulman Medal The Sir John Sulman Medal is an architectural prize presented by the New South Wales chapter of the Australian Institute of Architects since 1932. The medal is sometimes referred to as the Sulman Award and now recognises excellence in public an ...

for architecture in 1966. In 1968, they won the design competition for the

. Later, Madigan supervised construction of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is Australia's apex court. It exercises Original jurisdiction, original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified within Constitution of Australia, Australia's Constitution. The High Court was established fol ...

after its designer Christopher Kringas died in March 1975, just prior to the start of construction in April 1975. The unsuccessful design for the new Australian Parliament House in Canberra was one of the shortlisted finalists in the architectural design competition. He retired in 1989. Madigan also wrote a book on the sinking of HMAS ''Armidale'' in 1942, ''Armidale '42 : a survivor's account''. In later years, Madigan vigorously opposed plans to build a new entrance to the National Gallery of Australia. He died, aged 90, in

Bangalow Bangalow is a small town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia in Byron Shire. The town is north of Sydney and south of Brisbane, just off the Pacific Highway. The town's name appears to have been derived from an Aborig ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 17 September 2011, survived by his wife Ruby (née Court-Rice), their son Guy (born 1952) and a grandson.

Honours

Madigan received a

Gold Medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

from the

Royal Australian Institute of Architects (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...

in 1981. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Honours of 1984, and was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001.It's an Honour: Centenary Medal
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madigan, Colin 1921 births 2011 deaths Australian non-fiction writers Royal Australian Navy sailors Royal Australian Navy personnel of World War II Officers of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Centenary Medal Recipients of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects’ Gold Medal People from New South Wales