John P. Macarthur

John Peter Macarthur (born 1958) is an Australian architectural historian, critic and academic, based in Brisbane Australia.

Education Macarthur graduated from the University of Queensland with Bachelor (Hons 1) and Master of Design Studies degrees (1984). He then undertook a doctorate at the University of Cambridge (1989) where he studied with Joseph Rykwert and later with Mark Cousins.

Career Macarthur is a Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture Design and Planning (formerly the School of Architecture), at the University of Queensland, where he has worked since 1990. He teaches architectural history, research and design courses, and advises postgraduate students. He founded the Architecture, Theory, Criticism and History (ATCH) Research Centre at UQ, and served as President of the Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand (SAHANZ) between 2001 and 2003. In 2013 he was made a SAHANZ Life Fellow.

In 2016 Macarthur was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and a Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as Dean and Head of the School of Architecture at UQ and was a member of the College of Experts, for the Australian Research Council (ARC). In 2021 he was awarded the Neville Quarry Architectural Education Prize, from the Australian Institute of Architects. The prize recognises outstanding contributions to architectural education and was shared with Conrad Hamann.

Research Macarthur's research is primarily in the field of the intellectual history architecture. Much of this has focused on how architecture, aesthetics and the arts relate to one another. He is best known for his work on the picturesque. To date Macarthur has authored and edited more than ten books (including collaborative works) and published more than 150 papers. His most recent book Is Architecture Art? an introduction to the aesthetics of architecture will be published by Bloomsbury in late 2024.