Researcher biography
I work in the history and theory of architecture where I have what are probably too many interests. First among these has been in the history of ideas about architecture as an art form, and the aesthetic category of the picturesque. I was lead investigator on the research project Hot Modernism: Queensland Architecture 1945-75 which was a book and an exhibition at State Library of Queensland. I’m currently editing a book of essays on the one of the most significant of these architects, the Austrian émigré Karl Langer. My colleagues and I are winding up a project “Is Architecture Art?” which looks at cross disciplinary practices internationally and in Australia, and I regularly engage as a critic of contemporary architecture. I’m currently developing a project on the absence of architecture in Australian cultural policy. I was founding director of the ATCH Research Centre in the School of Architecture at UQ where I am presently Chair of Research.
Publications
Books
Macarthur, John, Holden, Susan, Paine, Ashley and Davidts, Wouter (2018). Pavilion propositions: nine points on an architectural phenomenon. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Valiz.
Aitchison, Mathew, Bashirzaheh Tabrizi, Toktam, Beim, Anne, Couper, Rachel, DOe, Robert, Engström, Dan, Kuzmanovska, Ivana, Lidelöw, Helena, Maxwell, Robert, Macarthur, John, Nelson, Jonathan, Noguchi, Masa, Norman, Marc, Rudberg, Martin, Rupnik, Ivan, Smith, Ryan, Stehn, Lars and Torero Cullen, Jose (2018). Prefab housing and the future of building: product to process. London, United Kingdom: Lund Humphries.
Macarthur, John (2013). The picturesque: Architecture, disgust and other irregularities. London, United Kingdom: Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.4324/9780203769430
Macarthur, John (2007). The Picturesque: Architecture, Disgust and other Irregularities. 1st ed. London, New York: Routledge.
Book Chapters
van der Plaat, Deborah and Macarthur, John (2022). Introduction: Modern Architect and Migrant. Karl Langer: Modern Architect and Migrant in the Australian Tropics. (pp. 1-12) edited by Deborah van der Plaat and John Macarthur. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
Macarthur, John (2022). Preface. What artistry can do: essays on art and beauty. (pp. xii-xv) edited by Bart Verschaffel (author, editor). Edinburgh, Scotland: University of Edinburgh Press.
Macarthur, John (2022). From John Macarthur to Wouter Davits re: "When does architecture stop?”. Twenty Years of Flanders Architecture Institute. (pp. 78-79) edited by Harold Fallon. Ghent, Belgium: Flanders Architecture Institute.
Macarthur, John (2022). The picturesque, architecture and urbanism. Pragmatics of the picturesque: strategies for the contemporary city. (pp. 14-19) edited by Daniel Elsea. London, United Kingdom: Allies and Morrison.
Macarthur, John and van der Plaat, Deborah (2022). Wireless architecture: Robert Cumming's early radio broadcasts. Architectural education through materiality: pedagogies of 20th century design . (pp. 221-234) edited by Elke Couchez and Rajesh Heynickx. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003201205-17
Macarthur, John (2021). Robin Boyd’s Australian Ugliness, ugliness and liberal education. After The Australian Ugliness. (pp. 45-52) edited by Naomi Stead, Tom Lee, Megan Patty and Ewan McEoin. Melbourne, VIC Australia: National Gallery of Victoria/Thames & Hudson.
Macarthur, John (2020). Standards for living and for art. NGV Triennial 2020. (pp. 88-95) edited by anon. Melbourne, Australia: National Gallery of Victoria.
Macarthur, John (2020). The smell of politics: Civilia, Collage City, and liberalism in architectural discourse. GTA papers 4: grand gestures. (pp. 22-45) edited by Adam Jasper and Stefan Neuner. Zurich, Switzerland: gta Verlag.
Macarthur, John (2020). Afterword: have things got better?. MMXX: Two decades of architecture in Australia. (pp. 299-301) edited by Cameron Bruhn. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Thames and Hudson.
Macarthur, John (2020). Ugliness, the anti-aesthetic and appropriation with some remarks on the architecture of ARM. Architecture and ugliness: anti-aesthetics and the ugly in postmodern architecture. (pp. 19-38) edited by Wouter van Acker and Thomas Mical. London, United Kingdom: Bloomsbury.
Macarthur, John , Holden, Susan and Paine, Ashley (2020). For what it’s worth: the value of architecture as heritage and culture. Valuing architecture: heritage and the economics of culture. (pp. 8-21) edited by Ashley Paine, Susan Holden and John Macarthur. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Valiz.
Macarthur, John (2019). 'In the service of clouds': the picturesque and aquatint. Architecture through drawing. (pp. 168-177) edited by Desley Luscombe, Helen Thomas and Niall Hobhouse. London, United Kingdom: Lund Humphries.
Macarthur, John (2019). Pardo’s plumbing: relational art and architectural pavilions. Trading between architecture and art: strategies and practices of exchange. (pp. 27-38) edited by Wouter Davidts, Ashley Paine and Susan Holden. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Valiz.
McDougall, Ian, Macarthur, John and Micheli, Silvia (2018). Culture mining: Ian McDougall in conversation with John Macarthur and Silvia Micheli. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 164-171) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro.
Hartoonian, Gevork, Macarthur, John and Walker, Paul (2018). We all loved Tafuri! A conversation between Gevork Hartoonian, John Macarthur and Paul Walker. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 208-217) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro.
Micheli, Silvia and Macarthur, John (2018). Thinking Italian in postmodern Australia. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 6-10) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro.
Baracco, Mauro, Macarthur, John and Micheli, Silvia (2018). Between La Tendenza and neoliberty: Mauro Baracco goes to Australia. Italy/Australia: postmodernism in translation. (pp. 180-192) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC Australia: Uro Publications.
Macarthur, John (2018). The banality of 240cm. House tour: views of the unfurnished interior. (pp. 112-115) edited by Adam Jasper. Zürich, Switzerland: Park Books and Pro Helvetia.
Addison, Rex, Micheli, Silvia and Macarthur, John (2018). Thinking about Gino Valle and a few others in my small pool: Rex Addison in conversation with Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Italy/Australia: postmodern architecture in translation. (pp. 172-179) edited by Silvia Micheli and John Macarthur. Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Uro Publications.
Stead, Naomi, van der Plaat, Deborah and Macarthur, John (2017). Building flagships: regionalism, place branding, and architecture as image in the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane. Images of the art museum: connecting gaze and discourse in the history of museology. (pp. 261-286) edited by Eva-Maria Troelenberg and Melania Savino. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter.
Aitchison, Mathew and Macarthur, John (2017). Prefabricated housing in architectural culture. Offsite architecture: constructing the future. (pp. 77-89) edited by Ryan E. Smith and John D. Quale. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315743332-5
Macarthur, John (2017). Luscombe Castle (1799). Companions to the history of architecture: eighteenth-century architecture. (pp. 1-5) edited by Harry Francis Mallgrave. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781118887226.wbcha076
Macarthur, John (2016). Geoffrey Scott, the Baroque, and the picturesque. The Baroque in architectural culture, 1880-1980. (pp. 61-71) edited by Andrew Leach, John Macarthur and Maarten Delbeke. Abingdon, Oxon, United States: Routledge.
Macarthur, John (2015). Letters to the people. Mongrel Rapture: The Architecture of Ashton Raggatt McDougall. (pp. 1345-1352) edited by Mark Raggatt and Maitiu Ward. Melbourne, VIC Australia: Uro Publications.
Leach, Andrew, Macarthur, John and Delbeke, Maarten (2015). Defining a problem:
modern architecture and the Baroque. The Baroque in architectural culture, 1880-1980. (pp. 1-12) edited by Andrew Leach, John Macarthur and Maarten Delbeke. Farnsworth, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
Macarthur, John (2015). Geoffrey Scott, the Baroque, and the picturesque. The Baroque in architectural culture, 1880-1980. (pp. 61-71) edited by Andrew Leach, John Macarthur and Maarten Delbeke. Farnsworth, United Kingdom: Ashgate.
Gosseye, Janina and Macarthur, John P. (2015). Angry Young Architects: counterculture and the critique of Modernism in Brisbane, 1967-1972. Hot modernism: Queensland architecture 1945-1975. (pp. 30-45) edited by John P. Macarthur, Deborah van der Plaat, Janina Gosseye and Andrew Wilson. London, United Kingdom: Artifice.
Macarthur, John, Riddel, Robert and Watson, Donald (2015). Civic visions for Brisbane. Hot modernism: Queensland architecture 1945-1975. (pp. 217-235) edited by John Macarthur, Deborah van der Plaat, Janina Gosseye and Andrew Wilson. London, United Kingdom: Artifice Books on Architecture.
Macarthur, John (2014). Of character and concrete: the historian's material. Forty ways to think about architecture: architectural history and theory today. (pp. 150-154) edited by Ian Borden, Murray Fraser and Barbara Penner. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781118822531.ch21
Macarthur, John (2014). 'The World' and Charters Towers: gold, stock exchanges and the electric telegraph at the beginning of globalisation. Out of Place (Gwalia): Occasional essays on Australian regional communities and built environments in transition. (pp. 129-158) edited by Philip Goldswain, Nicole Sully and William M. Taylor. Perth, WA, Australia: University of Western Australia Press.
Macarthur, John (2013). The figure from above: on the obliqueness of the plan in urbanism and architecture. Seeing from Above: The Aerial View in Visual Culture. (pp. 188-209) edited by Mark Dorrian and Frédéric Pousin. London, UK: I. B. Tauris.
Macarthur, John and Stead, Naomi (2012). Introduction: architecture and aesthetics. The SAGE handbook of architectural theory. (pp. 123-136) edited by C. Greg Crysler, Stephen Cairns and Hilde Heynen. London, United Kingdom: Sage Publications.
Macarthur, John (2012). Ugliness and romanticism in the work of Lyons. More: the architecture of Lyons 1996-2011. (pp. 267-272) edited by Lyons. Port Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Thames and Hudson.
Macarthur, John (2012). Sense, meaning and taste in architectural criticism. Semi-detached: Writing, representation and criticism in architecture. (pp. 229-235) edited by Naomi Stead. Melbourne, Australia: Uro Media.
Macarthur, John (2012). La figure vue de dessus: de l’oblique du plan dans l’urbanisme et l’architecture. Vues aériennes: seize etudes pour une histoire culturelle. (pp. 149-166) edited by Mark Dorrian and Frederic Pousin. Geneva, Switzerland: MetisPresses.
Macarthur, John (2012). Introduction. Robin Dods: selected works. (pp. 13-15) edited by Robert Riddel. Brisbane, Australia: URO Media.
Macarthur, John (2012). The world remade: art and mimesis in the work of Luc Deleu. Luc Deleu: orban space: the work and practice of Luc Deleu, T.O.P. office. (pp. 33-44) edited by Wouter Davidts, Guy Chatel and Stefaan Vervoort. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Valiz.
Hawker, Rosemary and Macarthur, John P. (2012). Louise Forthun: love story. NEWv2: selected recent acquisitions 2009–2011. (pp. 53-54) edited by Michele Helmrich and Ian Were. St Lucia, Qld., Australia: The University of Queensland Art Museum.
Macarthur, John (2012). Keniger, Michael. The encyclopedia of Australian architecture. (pp. 381-381) edited by Philip Goad and Julie Willis. Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Macarthur, John (2012). National Museum of Australia. The encyclopedia of Australian architecture. (pp. 488-489) edited by Philip Goad and Julie Willis. Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Macarthur, John (2012). Federation Square. The encyclopedia of Australian architecture. (pp. 246-246) edited by Philip Goad and Julie Willis. Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Macarthur, John and van der Plaat, Deborah (2012). Cummings, Robert. The encyclopedia of Australian architecture. (pp. 184-185) edited by Philip Goad and Julie Willis. Port Melbourne, VIC, Australia: Cambridge University Press.
Macarthur, John P. and Aitchison, Mathew H. (2010). Pevsner's townscape. Visual planning and the picturesque. (pp. 1-43) edited by Mathew H. Aitchison. Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.: Getty Research Institute.
Macarthur, John (2009). Landscape and prospect from the picturesque to aerial photography. Beyond the Picturesque. (pp. 209-219) edited by Steven Jacobs and Frank Maes. Ghent, Belgium: Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst.
Macarthur, John and Leach, Andrew (2009). Architecture disciplinarity and the arts: Considering the issues. Architecture, Disciplinarity, and the Arts. (pp. 7-15) edited by John Macarthur and Andrew Leach. Ghent, Belgium: A & S Books (University of Ghent).
Macarthur, John (2009). Architecture and the system of the arts; or, Kant on landscape gardening. Architecture, Disciplinarity, and the Arts. (pp. 27-44) edited by John Macarthur and Andrew Leach. Ghent, Belgium: A & S Books (University of Ghent).
Macarthur, John P. (2008). Peter Hennessey: Will therapy be enough?. New: Selected recent acquisitions, 2007-2008. (pp. 110-111) edited by Michele Helmrich. Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland Art Museum.
Macarthur, John and Stead, N. J. (2006). National museum of Australia as Danse Macabre: Baroque allegories of the popular. South Pacific museums: Experiments in culture. (pp. 20-32) edited by Chris Healy and Andrea Witcomb. Melbourne; Sydney, Australia: Monash E-Press. doi: 10.2104/spm06019
Macarthur, John (2006). Visual appropriation and property in the theory of Humphry Repton. The Geography of Law: landscape, identity and regulation. (pp. 49-64) edited by William Taylor. Oxford: Hart.
Macarthur, John (2001). Remarks around a pause: The plan and the architectural object. Pause. (pp. 9-12) edited by C. Murphy and S. Murray. Melbourne: RMIT University Press.
Macarthur, John (2000). From the Air: Collage City, Aerial Photography and the Picturesque. Re-Framing Architecture: Theory, Science and Myth. (pp. 113-120) edited by Michael Ostwald and John Moore. Sydney: Archadia Press.
Macarthur, John (2000). Materials historical and plastic. Imaginary Materials: A Seminar With Michael Carter. (pp. 29-34) edited by J. Macarthur. Brisbane: IMA Publishing.
Macarthur, John (1999). Building and landscape as an issue of city scale. 1997-1998 CHASA Refereed Design Scheme Catalogue. (pp. 9-15) edited by B. Busfield and P. Richards. Nedlands, WA: Studio Sch. of Architecture, UWA.
Macarthur, John (1999). Tactile simulations: Architecture and the image of the public at Brisbane's Kodak Beach. Imagining Australian Space. (pp. 177-192) edited by R. Barcan and I. Buchanan. Nedlands, WA: Univ. of W A Press.
Macarthur, John and Murray, Shane (1997). Form and Materials: some notes on Birrell's aesthetic. BIRRELL: work from the office of James Birrell. (pp. 6-12) Melboure: NMBW.
Macarthur, John (1993). Experiencing absence: Eisenman and Derrida, Benjamin and Schwitters. Knowledge and/or/of experience. (pp. 99-123) edited by John Macarthur. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Queensland.
Journal Articles
Macarthur, John (2019). Robin Boyd's The Australian Ugliness, ugliness, and liberal education. RMIT Design Archives Journal, 9 (2), 50-57.
Macarthur, John, Aitchison, Mathew and Cepl, Jasper (2019). Das Malerische and the picturesque: Seeing architecture in translation. Architectural Histories, 7 (1). doi: 10.5334/ah.290
Macarthur, John (2016). Writing on the image: architecture, the city and the politics of representation. Architectural Theory Review, 20 (3), 376-379. doi: 10.1080/13264826.2016.1185133
Macarthur, John and Holden, Susan (2016). Is architecture art?. Architecture Australia, 105 (2), 46-50.
Macarthur, John (2014). Melting into air: Stonehenge Visitor Centre. Architecture Australia, 103 (4), 20-27.
Macarthur, John (2014). Light weight and a heavy history: Denton Corker Marshall's Stonehenge visitor centre. Architecture Australia, 103 (4), 20-27.
Macarthur, John (2014). Aesthetics redux. The Journal of Architecture, 19 (6), 1004-1008. doi: 10.1080/13602365.2014.989747
Hill, Timothy, Macarthur, John and Stead, Naomi (2012). State of origin. Architecture Australia, 101 (4), 71-75.
Macarthur, John (2012). 'The revenge of the picturesque', redux. The Journal of Architecture, 17 (5), 643-653. doi: 10.1080/13602365.2012.724848
Macarthur, John and Aitchison, Mathew (2012). Oxford versus the Bath Road: Empiricism and romanticism in The Architectural Review's picturesque revival. The Journal of Architecture, 17 (1), 51-68. doi: 10.1080/13602365.2012.659901
Macarthur, John (2010). Schwitters and Benjamin: The modernity of the baroque and romanticism. The Journal of Architecture, 15 (3), 283-300. doi: 10.1080/13602365.2010.486567
Macarthur, John and Leach, Andrew (2010). Mannerism, Baroque, Modern, Avant-garde Introduction. Journal of Architecture, 15 (3), 239-242. doi: 10.1080/13602365.2010.486560
Macarthur, John (2009). Townscape, anti-scrape and surrealism: Paul Nash and John Piper in The Architectural Review. The Journal of Architecture, 14 (3), 387-406. doi: 10.1080/13602360903027988
Corbett, Lyon, Macarthur, John P., Mould, Peter, Neeson, Rachel and Clark, Justine (2009). 2008 AA prize for unbuilt work. Architecture Australia, 98, 85-97.
Macarthur, John (2008). The critics respond: Interesting. Architecture Australia, 97 (6), 117-118.
Macarthur, John (2007). Millenium arts: State of the arts. Architecture Australia, 96 (2), 51-53.
Macarthur, John (2007). Movement and tactility: Benjamin and Wölfflin on imitation in architecture. The Journal of Architecture, 12 (5), 477-487. doi: 10.1080/13602360701722475
Leach, Andrew and Macarthur, John (2007). Teorie e storia dell'architettura (1968): Manfredo Tafuri e il momento della teoria. Parametro. Rivista internazionale di architecttura e urbanistica, 37 (267), 72-73.
Macarthur, John (2006). Modern movement: On some issues in the contemporaneity of architecture and image types. Architecture Theory Review, 11 (2), 16-33. doi: 10.1080/13264820609478584
Leach, Andrew and Macarthur, John (2006). Tafuri as theorist. ARQ: Architectural Research Quarterly, 10 (3-4), 235-240. doi: 10.1017/S1359135506000339
Macarthur, John P. (2005). James Birrell in conversation with John Macarthur. Architecture Australia, 94 (2), 91-98.
Macarthur, John (2005). The nomenclature of style: Brutalism, Minimalism, art history and visual style in architecture journals. Architectural Theory Review, 10 (2), 100-108.
Macarthur, John (2004). Sweet whiteness. Architecture Australia, 93 (4), 58-63.
Loo, Steve, Treadwell, Sarah and Macarthur, John (2004). Recto/verso: 2 drawings. The pleasures of making: Matter and making, pleasure and ethics, architecture and the everyday. Architecture Australia, 93 (3), 44-45.
Macarthur, John (2004). A simple gesture across a piece of land: Kerstin Thompson architects house at Lake Connewarre. Architecture Australia, 93 (1), 50-57.
Macarthur, John (2003). Form in the Suburbs. Architecture Australia, 92 (3), 58-63.
Macarthur, John (2003). Federation Square: The aesthetics of public space. Architecture Australia, 92 (2), 48-49.
Macarthur, John (2002). Casuarina beach house. Architecture Australia, 91 (3, May/June), 58-63.
Macarthur, John (2002). The Image as an architectural material. South Atlantic Quarterly, 101 (3), 673-693. doi: 10.1215/00382876-101-3-673
Macarthur, John (2002). The look of the object: Minimalism in art and architecture, then and now. Architectural Theory Review, 7 (1), 137-148. doi: 10.1080/13264820209478450
Macarthur, John (2002). The picturesque movement-effect: Motion and Architectural affects in Wolfflin and Benjamin. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art, 3 (1), 137-157.
Macarthur, John (2001). Australian Baroque: Geometry and Meaning at the National Museum of Australia. Architecture Australia, 90 (2), 48-61.
Hawker, Rosemary and Macarthur, John (2001). The City as Territory: Aerial Photography and the Everyday. Photofile (63), 34-39.
Macarthur, John (2000). The Look of the Object. Assemblage - A Critical Journal of Architecture and Design Culture, 41 (April), 48-48.
Macarthur, John (2000). Art. Architecture Australia, Jan/Feb, ---.
Macarthur, John (2000). Malappropriation of the picturesque. 38 South: The Graduate Journal of Architecture and Design from RMIT (2), 52-59.
Macarthur, John (2000). Some thoughts on the canon and exemplification in architecture. Form/Work: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Design and the Built Environment (5), 33-45.
Macarthur, John (1999). Colonies at home: Loudon's encyclopaedia, and the architecture of forming the self. Architecture Research Quarterly, 3 (3), 245-257. doi: 10.1017/S1359135500002074
Macarthur, John (1998). Review: Hidden Newcastle by John Moore and Michael Ostwald. Australasian Victorian Studies Journal, 4, 164-165.
Macarthur, John (1997). The Heartlessness of the Picturesque: Sympathy and Disgust in Ruskin's Aesthetics. Assemblage, 32 (April), 126-141.
Macarthur, John (1996). The Butcher's Shop: Disgust in Picturesque Aesthetics and Architecture. Assemblage, 30, 32-43.
Macarthur, John (1996). Urbanist rhetoric: Problems and origins in architectural theory. Architectural Research Quarterly, 2 (1), 8-13. doi: 10.1017/S1359135500001056
Lambie, Lisa and Macarthur, Jhn (1996). Grasping the intangible: some thoughts on a photograph of demolished buildings. Architectural Theory Review, 1 (2), 53-59. doi: 10.1080/13264829609478289
Macarthur, John (1995). On Kodak Beach: Technical Developments in Imaging and Architecture. Transition: Discourse on Architecture (48), 18-29.
Macarthur, John (1990). Technique and the Clash of Language: Some Thoughts on Tafuri's 'The Sphere and the Labyrinth'. Transition: Discourse on Architecture (32), 6-21.
Conference Papers
van der Plaat, Deborah and Macarthur, John (2017). A Quiet Revolution: Robert Percy Cummings’ unpublished talks (1930-1970). Educating Architects and Planners, 1917-2017, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, 8-9 September 2017.
Macarthur, John (2017). The semblance of use: history, function and aesthetics in the serpentine pavilions. Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Annual Conference, Canberra, ACT, Australia, 5-8 July 2017. Canberra, ACT, Australia: SAHANZ.
Macarthur, John (2015). Architecture, HEAT and the government of culture. Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Annual Conference, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 7-10 July 2015. Sydney, NSW, Australia: SAHANZ.
Gosseye, Janina and Macarthur, John (2014). Angry young architects: counterculture and the critique of Modernism in Brisbane, 1967-72. Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Annual Conference, Auckland, New Zealand, 2-5 July, 2014. Gold Coast, QLD, Australia: SAHANZ.
van der Plaat, Deborah, Hunter, Jane, Gosseye, Janina, Macarthur, John and Wilson, Andrew (2013). Digital stories and semantic web technologies: new practices in developing and interpreting an architectural archive. 66th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Buffalo, NY, United States, 10-14 April 2013.
Hunter, Jane, Macarthur, John, van der Plaat, Deborah, Wilson, Andrew, Muys, Andrae and Bannerman, Gavin (2012). A Web 3.0 approach to building an online digital archive of architectural practice in post-war Queensland. International Council on Archives Congress 2012, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 20 - 24 August 2012. Eagle Farm, QLD, Australia: International Council on Archives Congress.
Hunter, Jane, Macarthur, John, van der Plaat, Deborah, Gosseye, Janina, Wilson, Andrew and Bannerman, Gavin (2012). A Web 3.0 approach to building an online digital archive of architectural practice in post-War Queensland. 17th International Council of Archives (ICA) Congress, Brisbane, Australia, 20-24 August 2012. Munich, Germany: De Gruyter Saur. doi: 10.3828/comma.2012.2.5
Stead, Naomi, van der Plaat, Deborah and Macathur, John (2011). A taste for place: The cultivation of an audience for climate-responsive architecture in Queensland. Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Annual Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 7-10 July 2011. Brisbane, Australia: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ).
Macarthur, John (2008). Baroque architecture and the system of the arts. Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) Annual Conference, Deakin University, Geelong, 3-6 July, 2008. Geelong, Australia: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia & New Zealand (SAHANZ).
Macarthur, John P. and Moulis, Antony (2008). Painting and design in the architecture of Le Corbusier. Annual Conference of the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand, Brisbane, 5-6 December 2008. Brisbane, Australia: Griffith University on behalf of Art Association of Australia & New Zealand.
Macarthur, John (2007). Strange Encounters in Mid-Century British Urbanism: Townscape, Anti-Scrape and Surrealism. Panorama to Paradise:The XXIVth International Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, Adelaide, South Australia, 21-23 September, 2007. Adelaide: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia & New Zealand.
Stead, Naomi and Macarthur, John (2006). The potential for architectural criticism within the post-critical. Stylos Conference on Projective Practice, Delft, The Netherlands, 16-17 March 2006.
Macarthur, John and Moulis, Antony (2005). Movement and figurality: The circulation diagram and the history of the architectural plan. Celebration: 22nd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand, 24-27 September 2005. Napier, New Zealand: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand.
Macarthur, John (2004). Picturesque minimalism: Architecture, visual experience and form. 2003 ACSA International Conference, Helsinki, Finland, 27-30 July 2003. Washington, U.S.A.: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture.
Macarthur, John and Aitchison, M. H. (2004). Ivor de Wolfe's picturesque, or who and what as townscape. Limits: Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of SAHANZ, Melbourne, 26-29th September, 2004. Melbourne: SAHANZ.
Moulis, Antony and Macarthur, John P. (2002). Introduction. XIX Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand, Brisbane, Qld, Australia, 4-7 October, 2002. Brisbane, Australia: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia & New Zealand. doi: 10.3233/978-1-61499-175-5-1
Macarthur, John (2001). The picturesque movement-effect:Motion and architectural affects in Wolfflin and Benjamin. The 18th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, Darwin, 30 Sept - 3 Oct, 2001. Darwin: SAHANZ.
Macarthur, John (2000). Brutalism, ugliness and the picturesque object. Formulation Fabrication Papers from the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand,, Wellington, New Zealand, 13 - 17 Nov, 2000. Wellington, New Zealand: SAHANZ.
Macarthur, John (2000). Art and architecture, objects and material. Art Association Annual Conference, Brisbane, 7 - 10 Dec, 2000. Brisbane: aaANZ.
Macarthur, John (1999). Image-building: From the application of images to the imagination of space. Thresholds, Launceston/ Hobart, 28 Sept - 1 Oct 1999. Launceston, Tas: SAHANZ.
Macarthur, John (1999). Image building: Space and image as materials in art and architecture. Thresholds, Launceston/Hobart, 28 Sept - 1 Oct, 1999. Launceston, Tas: SAHANZ.
Lambie, L. and Macarthur, J. (1995). Grasping the intangible: some thoughts on a photograph of demolished buildings. Moving On: Australia ICOMOS Conference 1995, Charters Towers, QLD, Australia, 8-10 September, 1995.
Creative Work
Macarthur, John, Hunter, Jane, van der Plaat, Deborah, Gosseye, Janina and Bannerman, Gavin (2014). Digital Archive of Queensland Architecture. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: ATCH Research Centre UQ.
Thesis
Macarthur, John (1984). Foucault, Tafuri, utopia : essays in the history and theory of architecture. Master's Thesis, School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2020.532
Research Reports
Macarthur, John (2004). Report on the cultural heritage significance of the former T and G building, Townsville. Townsville: Planning and Environment Court of Queensland.
Macarthur, John P. (2003). Assessment of objection to the inclusion of the Wintergarden Theatre, Rockhampton in the Heritage Register of Queensland. Report to the Queensland Heritage Council Brisbane, Australia: Queensland Heritage Council.