John Lansdown
Encyclopedia
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
and Professor Emeritus at Middlesex University
Middlesex University
Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...
Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts
Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts
The Lansdown Centre for Electronic Arts is a research centre of Middlesex University in the north of London, United Kingdom. It had a significant role in the early development of computer graphics and has continued to innovate in areas such as interactive media and sonic arts.The Centre undertakes...
, which was renamed in his honour in 2000.
As early as 1960, Lansdown, a very successful architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
with offices in Russell Square
Russell Square
Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. To the north is Woburn Place and to the south-east is Southampton Row...
, central London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, was a believer in the potential for computers for architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and other creative activities. He pioneered the use of computers as an aid to planning; making perspective drawings on an Elliott 803
Elliott Brothers (computer company)
-Elliott Brothers Ltd:Elliott Brothers Ltd was an early computer company of the 1950s–60s in the United Kingdom, tracing its descent from a firm of instrument makers founded by William Elliott in London around 1804. The research laboratories were based at Borehamwood, originally set up in...
computer in 1963, modeling a building's lifts and services, plotting the annual fall of daylight across its site, as well as authoring his own computer aided design applications.
Lansdown joined the ACM
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
in 1972 and Eurographics
Eurographics
Eurographics is a Europe-wide professional Computer Graphics association. The association supports its members in advancing the state of the art in Computer Graphics and related fields such as Multimedia, Scientific Visualization and Human-Computer Interaction....
in 1983. From the early 1970s to the 1990s, he had influential roles in several professional bodies, and chaired the Science Research Council's Computer Aided Building Design Panel, through which he implemented a world leading strategy for developing computer aided architectural design in British universities. He had enormous influence as one of the founders and as secretary of the Computer Arts Society
Computer Arts Society
The Computer Arts Society was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts.- Foundation :The three founder members of the Society – Alan Sutcliffe, George Mallen, and John Lansdown – had been involved with computing and its related concepts for some time...
(1968–1991). He was on 10 editorial boards and chaired and organized many international conferences — Event One at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
(1969) and Interact at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
(1973) were seminal events in establishing the use of computers for the creation of art works.
In 1977, Lansdown became chairman of System Simulation Ltd
System Simulation Ltd
System Simulation is a software engineering company specialising in text and multimedia information systems, based in Covent Garden, central London, England, and founded in 1970. SSL software provides support for large and small scale applications on networked and stand alone systems...
the software company which, amongst other pioneering activities, had played a key role in the creation and development of the Computer Arts Society
Computer Arts Society
The Computer Arts Society was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts.- Foundation :The three founder members of the Society – Alan Sutcliffe, George Mallen, and John Lansdown – had been involved with computing and its related concepts for some time...
. System Simulation had been applying computer graphics techniques in TV and film applications following collaborative research work at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. At System Simulation Lansdown then played a leading role in several pioneering animation projects, contributing to the flight deck instrumentation readouts on the Nostromo space ship for Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. His most famous films include The Duellists , Alien , Blade Runner , Legend , Thelma & Louise , G. I...
's Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, many advertising sequences and latterly, working with Tony Prichett, producing the 3D wire frame drawings from which Martin Lambie-Nairn
Martin Lambie-Nairn
Martin Lambie-Nairn is one of the most influential British graphic designers. He was the founder of his eponymous branding agency, Lambie-Nairn & Company, and is currently the creative director of branding agency Heavenly Group Ltd. His work mainly concentrates on brand identity for television...
's original Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
logo was rendered.
Landsdown left the architectural practice in 1992 and split his time between System Simulation and a Senior Research Fellowship at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
before becoming a full time academic in 1988 as Professor and head of the Centre for Computer Aided Art & Design at Middlesex University
Middlesex University
Middlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...
, then as Dean of the Department of Art, Design and Performing Arts then, finally, as Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University. He was also Senior Visiting Fellow at the Department of Architectural Science, University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
from 1983. He relinquished these roles on formal retirement in 1995, but continued to be very active and influential as Emeritus Professor in the Centre for Electronic Arts. He continued to advise System Simulation and to work on the development of a digital archive of the Computer Arts Society
Computer Arts Society
The Computer Arts Society was founded in 1968, in order to encourage the creative use of computers in the arts.- Foundation :The three founder members of the Society – Alan Sutcliffe, George Mallen, and John Lansdown – had been involved with computing and its related concepts for some time...
's history and holdings which the company had initiated. This was tragically cut short on his death but has since been brought up-to-date by the CACHe
Cache
In computer engineering, a cache is a component that transparently stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster. The data that is stored within a cache might be values that have been computed earlier or duplicates of original values that are stored elsewhere...
project in the School of Art History at Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
.
Lansdown's range of publications began to diversify from the early 1970s. He wrote the classic Teach Yourself Computer Graphics (Hodder and Stoughton, 1987), exhibited algorithmically generated images, animations, compositions, conversations, sword fights and choreography, such as the 18-minute dance piece A/C/S/H/O commissioned by the One Extra Dance Company and performed at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in 1990. He contributed as author and/or editor to 34 books and worked on more than a hundred conference and journal publications.
Lansdown married Dorothy (Dot) in 1952, and they had two children, Robert and Karen. All survive him.