• Michael Lingerfelt was architect of record for Disney's Animal Kingdom. He served as director of project architecture and engineering at Walt Disney Imagineering for more than 15 years. -image by Jedi94 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57037825)

On May 8, legendary architect Michael Lingerfelt, FAIA, died. President of architecture and design at Lingerfelt International, based in Orlando, Lingerfelt was a long-time, valued member of AIA Florida. He was also born and raised in Texas and attended The University of Texas at Austin. Lingerfelt had recently moved back to his home state.

In a career spanning more than three decades, Lingerfelt served as the director of project architecture and engineering for Walt Disney Imagineering and design manager for Marriott Corporation. He also founded his own company, focused on helping major restaurant chains become more sustainable. 

Lingerfelt was a renowned post-disaster inspector and chair of the AIA Disaster Assistance Committee. We were privileged to have him visit the TxA offices this past September to conduct Safety-Assessment Program trainings following Hurricane Harvey, and as an active participant with the TxA Recovery Task Force.

Lingerfelt will be deeply missed by the architecture community. A service is planned at the Downtown Baptist Church in Orlando on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. The Lingerfelt family has also partnered with the Student Leadership University to create a scholarship fund in Michael’s name.  For more information about Lingerfelt’s life and contributions, see the AIA Florida announcement. 

2 Comments

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Michael was and my favorite imagineer. My heart and prayers go out to Michael’s family.

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Just learning today that Michael has passed.
He commanded respect and was thoroughly classy.
Agree with Robert’s comment above. God’s Blessing to Michael’s family.

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