Mitchell Schwarzer
Encyclopedia
Mitchell Schwarzer is an architectural historian
who writes on the urban and suburban built environment with attention to issues of mobility, perceptual psychology, media, consumerism, and memory. He is Professor of Architectural History and Chair of the Department of Visual Studies at California College of the Arts
. He lives with his wife Marjorie, a professor of museum studies.
Upon graduation, Schwarzer worked for an environmental consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area and later the San Francisco Department of City Planning. In 1986, he began doctoral study in the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and received his Ph.D. in 1991. While researching his dissertation on Adolf Loos he lived for a year as a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria.
Schwarzer's first academic position was at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught at the art history department from 1991-1995. He began full-time teaching at California College of the Arts in 1996, and co-founded the school's Masters Program in Visual Criticism (now called Visual and Critical Studies) with visual artist, art historian and critic, M. Celeste Connor, Ph.D.. He has taught lecture classes on the history of architecture and art as well as seminars on architectural, urban, and landscape theory, aesthetics, cultural criticism, the avant garde, visual perception, and film and literature of the city. He has lectured widely in the United States and given talks in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Great Britain. His current book project involves Jewish Space and the Diaspora.
He has also written dozens of articles and essays about architecture and planning.
Architectural historian
A architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it Similar profession are known widely such as Historian, Art historian and Archaeologist. Architectural historians survey areas that are often threatened by extinction...
who writes on the urban and suburban built environment with attention to issues of mobility, perceptual psychology, media, consumerism, and memory. He is Professor of Architectural History and Chair of the Department of Visual Studies at California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts
California College of the Arts , founded in 1907, is known for its broad, interdisciplinary programs in art, design, architecture, and writing. It has two campuses, one in Oakland and one in San Francisco, California, USA...
. He lives with his wife Marjorie, a professor of museum studies.
Background
Mitchell was born in 1957 to Sigmund and Genia Schwarzer, Polish Holocaust survivors, at the Norton Air Force Base Hospital in San Bernardino California, where his father was Chief of Pediatrics. His family then moved to an apartment in Queens, New York, and eventually a hi-ranch house in Manhasset Hills on Long Island. He attended Denton Avenue Elementary School, Shelter Rock Junior High School, and graduated from Herricks High School in 1975. Subsequently, he received his BA from Washington University in 1979 (including a junior year abroad program in Florence, Italy), and his Masters in City Planning from Harvard University in 1981.Upon graduation, Schwarzer worked for an environmental consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area and later the San Francisco Department of City Planning. In 1986, he began doctoral study in the History, Theory and Criticism of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and received his Ph.D. in 1991. While researching his dissertation on Adolf Loos he lived for a year as a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria.
Schwarzer's first academic position was at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught at the art history department from 1991-1995. He began full-time teaching at California College of the Arts in 1996, and co-founded the school's Masters Program in Visual Criticism (now called Visual and Critical Studies) with visual artist, art historian and critic, M. Celeste Connor, Ph.D.. He has taught lecture classes on the history of architecture and art as well as seminars on architectural, urban, and landscape theory, aesthetics, cultural criticism, the avant garde, visual perception, and film and literature of the city. He has lectured widely in the United States and given talks in Austria, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, and Great Britain. His current book project involves Jewish Space and the Diaspora.
Books
Schwarzer has written five books:- Home Egonomics: America's Obsession with Real Estate (Houghton Mifflin Company, forthcoming)
- Architecture of the San Francisco Bay Area: History and Guide' (William Stout Publishers, 2007)
- Zoomscape: Architecture in Motion and Media (Princeton Architectural Press, 2004)
- Architecture and Design: SF (Understanding Business, 1998)
- German Architectural Theory and the Search for Modern Identity (Cambridge University Press, 1995)
He has also written dozens of articles and essays about architecture and planning.