Bill Laubmann spoke no English when he moved to Brooklyn from Germany following World War II. He learned to fit in.
"He had to acclimate at a young age," said Holly Laubmann Rector, his daughter from Avondale Estates. "He developed his people skills early, and that definitely helped his business."
In 1969, Mr. Laubmann was hired by FABRAP Inc., an Atlanta architectural firm, after graduation from Harvard. Two years later, he founded Laubmann Reed and Associates Inc., which worked on projects in more than 30 countries and 20 states.
In 1982, his firm completed a detailed master plan for Piedmont Park's preservation. He spoke about the park's neglect in a story that appeared in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"It's in a total state of decline," he said in 1985. "This being the main central park of the capital city of the South, it's a sad state of affairs."
On Dec. 11, William "Bill" Heinz Laubmann of Buckhead died from complications of dementia at the William Breman Jewish Home. He was 71. A memorial service has been held; arrangements were handled by H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill chapel.
Mr. Laubmann graduated from Queens' Bayside High and attended the New York Institute of Design and Construction. He earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture at Michigan State University and then enrolled in the Harvard University School of Design.
At Harvard, he joined The Architects Collaborative, (TAC) a group of graduates respected for a broad range of public and private projects. Relationships fostered at TAC helped his firm land projects worldwide.
He was hired to draft design guidelines for U.S. military bases and for civilian projects in Egypt and on the Red Sea. Other projects included a mixed-use development on Portomaso, Malta, and the Barbados Hotel and the Ritz Carlton in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Locally, the architect had a hand in the design of the Cobb Galleria and Atlanta Financial Center.
Mr. Laubmann was an avid sailor, scuba diver and runner who competed in the Peachtree Road Race. He was an associate professor at the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design and a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
For civic involvement, he was vice chairman of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission for eight years. He also co-wrote Atlanta's tree ordinance and was a professional liaison to MARTA.
"That's how he gave back and that's how he got satisfaction from his tough upbringing," said Marty Laubmann, his wife of 43 years. "He never talked about his past. He looked always to the future."
Mr. Laubmann's passion for his profession rubbed off on his two adult children. His son, Silas, is an architect and his daughter, Holly Rector, is a landscape architect. Holly Rector joined her father's business after she earned a degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Today, that business exists as Laubmann Rector, Inc.
Additional survivors include a son, Silas Laubmann, and a sister, Carola Mandell, both Atlantans, and three grandchildren.
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