Dr Julie Collins is an architectural historian, curator and active researcher. Her interests range from the architectural history of therapeutic places to the study of architectural drawing collections and heritage.
At the Architecture Museum she is responsible for an invaluable research collection of 400,000 items of architectural design documentation, drawings, photographs, artefacts and ephemera. As well as managing this physical collection, Dr Collins researches and writes biographies, catalogues, guides to sources and website content, while curating exhibitions and presenting public lectures and outreach events.
Dr Collins was named '2024 South Australian Historian of the Year' by the History Council of South Australia with a... Read more
About me
Dr Julie Collins is an architectural historian, curator and active researcher. Her interests range from the architectural history of therapeutic places to the study of architectural drawing collections and heritage.
At the Architecture Museum she is responsible for an invaluable research collection of 400,000 items of architectural design documentation, drawings, photographs, artefacts and ephemera. As well as managing this physical collection, Dr Collins researches and writes biographies, catalogues, guides to sources and website content, while curating exhibitions and presenting public lectures and outreach events.
Dr Collins was named '2024 South Australian Historian of the Year' by the History Council of South Australia with a citation which reads: 'The 2024 Historian of the Year has established a national profile as an authority on South Australian architecture, architectural collections and the history of therapeutic places. She has contributed new knowledge to the field, not only in Australia, but increasingly on an international level. Her expertise is evident through numerous authored and co-authored publications, and she is highly regarded by her peers and history organisations. Her community engagement has strengthened the profile of South Australia’s architectural history and is building public knowledge that will influence the heritage preservation of these places. Dr Julie Collins is a respected, active and engaging historian of South Australia’s designed environment, architecture, and its architects, both through her work as Curator of the University of South Australia’s Architecture Museum, but also through her research, raising awareness of history and bringing it to new audiences.'
Dr Collins has written or co-written several books including "The Architecture and Landscape of Health: A Historical Perspective on Therapeutic Places 1790-1940" published in 2020 by Routledge, "Not for ourselves alone: The South Australian Home Builders’ Club, 1945- 1965" (2013), and "The Architects Board of South Australia: A History 1939-2009" (2010). She has contributed many book chapters to edited volumes including 'A powerful, creative history: the reticence of women architects to donate professional records to archival repositories' in the international compendium "Women in Architecture" (Routledge 2018), 'An Architectural Ornament', in "Adelaide’s Jubilee International Exhibition 1887-1888" (2016), and 'South Australian Architecture' in "The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Australian Architecture" (Cambridge University Press, 2012).
Her research projects have included those on the history of Department Stores in South Australia, the Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition building of 1887, work on the influence of climate on the colonial architecture of Adelaide, the history of psychiatric asylum landscapes, and early tuberculosis sanatoria in Australia. She has also researched the South Australian Home Builders' Club 1945-1965, the Small Homes Service of South Australia and the modern postwar house, the emergence of tall buildings in Adelaide 1912-1939, and women in the architectural profession 1910-1960. Dr Collins' PhD thesis was titled ‘Ways of Living: The expression of the home/work relationship in Australian architectural design of the late twentieth century’ (2003).
Among Dr Collins’ many sole or co-authored journal articles are "Designing the Sleepout in South Australia", Journal of the HIstorical Society of South Australia (2022), "Consumption Crusade", Planning Perspectives (2021), “A Visual Literacy Approach to Born-Digital Design Records", American Archivist (2021), “Lost landscapes of healing: the decline of therapeutic mental health landscapes”, Landscape Research, (2016), “Climate discourse and the architectural style debates surrounding Adelaide’s nineteenth century public buildings”, History Australia (2015), and “Life in the Open Air: Place as a Therapeutic and Preventative Instrument in Australia's Early Open-Air Tuberculosis Sanatoria”, Fabrications: Society of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand, (2012).
Her current research builds on previous work into the cultural significance of architectural records, retail architecture of the modern period, and Modernism in South Australia. Dr Collins is also an author and editor of the 'Architects of South Australia' database which documents the lives and works of a selection of the state's architects from colonial times to the present day.
About me
International Confederation of Architecture Museums, Museums Australia, Australian Historical Association, Historical Society of South Australia, Australian Society of Archivists (SA branch), Art Deco and Modernism Society (SA Chapter), Australia and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine, Australian Society of Authors, South Australian Writers Centre, Australian Garden History Society.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy Arts, Architecture and Design University of South Australia
Bachelor of Architecture University of South Australia
1999-2020 University of South Australia, UniSA Creative, formerly School of Art, Architecure and Design
The Architecture and Landscape of Health: A Historical Perspective on Therapeutic Places 1790-1940
Book published 2020 by Routledge.
The Architecture and Landscape of Health explores buildings and landscapes that were designed to treat or prevent disease in the era before pharmaceuticals and biomedicine emerged as first line treatments. Written from an architectural perspective, it examines the historical relationship between health and place through the emergence of dedicated therapeutic building types from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, a time when the environment was viewed as integral to the health of both the individual and the population.
This book provides an overview of ideas surrounding health and... Read more
Research
Excludes commercial-in-confidence projects.
Architects of SA database entries, SA Dept for Environment and Water, 28/06/2024 - 30/06/2025
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2022 |
Open access
23
|
| 2020 |
10
15
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
16
10
47
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2020 |
10
15
|
| 2016 |
|
| 2013 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2016 |
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| 2016 |
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2022 |
|
| 2022 |
Open access
23
|
| 2021 |
Open access
1
2
|
| 2020 |
3
2
|
| 2019 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
16
10
47
|
| 2015 |
|
| 2015 |
|
| 2014 |
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| 2014 |
Collins, JA 2014, 'The 1944 Nucleus House', vol. 41, no. 18, pp. 18-19. |
| 2013 |
|
| 2013 |
Collins, J 2013, 'Homes for 'the man in the street'', vol. 39, pp. 10. |
| 2013 |
|
| 2013 |
|
| 2012 |
Open access
3
|
| 2012 |
|
| 2012 |
|
| 2012 |
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| 2011 |
Open access
2
4
|
| 2011 |
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| 2011 |
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| 2011 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2009 |
2
2
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2022 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
Open access
|
| 2016 |
Open access
|
| Year | Output |
|---|---|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2023 |
Open access
|
| 2012 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2010 |
|
| 2009 |
|
Exhibitions - exhibition curation and exhibition catalogues
Collins, J and Pilkington, M 2019 Modernism and Modernist SA Architecture, Office for Design and Architecture SA (ODASA), Adelaide, 26 October -22 November 2019, (reshown at Heritage SA 2020).
Collins, J and Pilkington, M 2017 Dickson and Platten Architects 1950-2005, Office for Design and Architecture SA, Leigh Street, Adelaide, 6-29 October 2017, catalogue, (Reshown at Heritage SA 2019).
Collins, J 2016 Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition and Building (1887-1962), Kerry Packer Civic Gallery at the University of South Australia, 9-30 November 2016 (Reshown at ODASA 2018).
Collins, J 2015 On Paper: Unbuilt works from the Architecture Museum, Foyer Gallery, Kaurna Building, University of South Australia, 13 October-6 November 2015, catalogue.
Research
The Architecture and Landscape of Health: A Historical Perspective on Therapeutic Places 1790-1940
Book published 2020 by Routledge.
The Architecture and Landscape of Health explores buildings and landscapes that were designed to treat or prevent disease in the era before pharmaceuticals and biomedicine emerged as first line treatments. Written from an architectural perspective, it examines the historical relationship between health and place through the emergence of dedicated therapeutic building types from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century, a time when the environment was viewed as integral to the health of both the individual and the population.
This book provides an overview of ideas surrounding health and place and their impact on architecture and designed landscapes. Different therapeutic buildings and places are examined, including public parks, asylums, sanatoria, leprosaria, quarantine stations, public baths and healthy homes. Each chapter outlines the medical context, common therapies, a history of buildings designed in response to these, and an examination of how such places were perceived to have functioned. Illustrated using geographically and temporally diverse examples, the book includes designs drawn from locations across the world including Europe, the Americas, Africa, Australia and Asia.
The Architecture and Landscape of Health identifies and examines moments in the conversation between health and design, and is a timely look back on the resultant buildings and places, offering insights which could inform the design of therapeutic places of the future. An ideal read for researchers, academics and upper-level postgraduate students interested in architecture, and architectural history, particularly relating to healthcare design and medical history.
Dr Collins' leadership in the field of architectural history is well regarded and she has collaborated with organisations such as the History Trust of SA, Parlour, the Australian Institute of Architects, and Heritage SA. Dr Collins works across the fields of architecture, history, heritage and archiving/museum curation. Recently, as a member of the organising committee of the Australian and New Zealand Society for the History of Medicine ‘Second Opinions’ 2023 conference held in Adelaide, Julie has been an advocate of interdisciplinary history, bringing the history of architecture and medicine together.
Dr Collins has served as a guest juror for the Australian Institute of Architects 2020 SA Architecture Awards panel for Heritage and Residential Alterations. In 2021 Dr Collins was invited to deliver an online presentation ‘From Cure to Cleanliness: Tracing the evolution of therapeutic bathing architecture’ to the Global Travel Cultures Research Seminar series, Amsterdam. She was also invited to deliver an online lecture ‘Sunlight, Space and Surfaces - Tracing the Development of the Healthy Home’, as part of the lecture series, Creativity from Chaos: Design in Times of Need, for The Preservation Society of Newport County, USA. In 2019 she spoke at, chaired a session and conducted a tour of the Architecture Museum at the International Council on Archives ‘Designing the Archives’ conference, Adelaide October 2019. Also, in 2019 Dr Collins was invited to be a speaker and panelist at the Bauhaus Symposium, July 2019 (Jam Factory) and held a tour for the International Confederation of Architectural Museums (Australasia) annual meeting. In 2018 Dr Collins and Dr Peter Lekkas were invited by the History Trust of South Australia to present a public lecture titled ‘Stories, Statistics and Sanatoria’ at the Torrens Parade Ground. Within the last two years Julie has given talks to the many community and special interest organisations including the Historical Society of South Australia, University of the Third Age, Holdfast Bay History Centre, and Australian Museums and Galleries Association. Julie was a member of the Australian Garden History Society journal editorial committee for several years.
External engagement & recognition
| Organisation | Country |
|---|---|
| Architecture Board of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| Artefactual Systems | CANADA |
| Library of Congress | UNITED STATES |
| RMIT University | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Edinburgh | UNITED KINGDOM |
| University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Sydney | AUSTRALIA |
| University of Technology Sydney | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
| Engagement/recognition | Year |
|---|---|
SA Historian of the YearThe History Council of South Australia |
2024 |
MemberAustralian Society of Archivists, SA Branch |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Garden History Society |
2018 |
MemberSociety of Architectural Historians, Australia and New Zealand |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Historical Association |
2018 |
MemberHistorical Society of South Australia |
2018 |
Dr Collins is a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Supervisor and has co-supervised three higher degree students, two of whom have completed. In addition to supervising their research, Dr Collins mentors and guides these students in research over their candidacy.
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
| Thesis title | Student status |
|---|---|
| Acres of Adelaide: everyday people, processes and patterns in a settler-colonial urban plan 1836-1881 | Completed |
| Planning for open space in postwar South Australia: open space benefits and local open space systems at Elizabeth, Noarlunga and Golden Grove | Completed |
