Education

Ph.D on Vito Acconci's architectural projects, University of Zurich, 2010; Master of Advanced Studies in Architectural Theory, ETH Zurich, 2000; MA in Art History, University of Hamburg, 1998; Studies in Art History, University of Basel, Erasmus Scholarship for Art History, 1995-1996; BA Studies in Art History, University of Hamburg, 1992-1997; Diploma, Valentin-Heider Gymnasium, Lindau, 1982-1991

Bio and Affiliation

Dr. Lilian Pfaff is an architectural historian and critic. She is the editor of Clocks and Clouds: The Architecture of Escher GuneWardena, published by Birkhäuser (2017), Ernst Neufert PeterNeufert, published by Hatje Cantz (2015), and of Prada Aoyama Tokyo: Herzog & de Meuron, published by the Fondazione Prada (2003). Between 2003 and 2007 she served as editor-in-chief of the Swiss weekly architecture magazine TEC21, and between 1999 and 2002 she served as assistant curator at the Architekturmuseum Basel. She has curated exhibitions internationally and has held teaching positions in Switzerland and the US, currently at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Woodbury University and Otis College of Art and Design. Her writing has been published extensively in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, catalogs, and books on architecture. She received her PhD on Vito Acconci’s architectural projects from the University of Zürich in 2010, a Master of Advanced Studies in Architectural Theory from the ETH Zürich in 2000, and an MA in Art History at the University of Hamburg in 1998. Her book on the German-American Julius Ralph Davidson who built the Thomas Mann House in Pacific Palisades will be published in 2018.

Lilian Pfaff's Work
Lilian Pfaff's Work

 

Lilian Pfaff's Picture

Awards and Honors 

  • Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation for the book on "Modern Califronia Architecture 1920-1945", 2012-2013
  • Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, 2008-2009
  • Prize for architecture critic from Federal Arts Commission, Switzerland, 2007
  • Grant from Muller-Meyland Foundation, Basel, 2005

Publications:  

Books

  • J.R. Davidson, Lilian Pfaff (2018)
  • Escher GuneWardena, Ed. by Lilian Pfaff, Vienna: Verlag fur moderne Kunst, 2016

Catalogue Essays

  • "Four Interviews with Frank Escher and Ravi Guen Wardena, in: Escher GuneWardena, Ed. Lilian Pfaff, Basel: Birkhauser, 2017
  • "Till Velten fragt und forscht", in: Till Velten. Ed. by Lilian Pfaff, Vienna: Verlag fur moderne Kunst, 2016

Architectural Magazines

  • "Times Square in New York" in Tec21, (August 2017)
  • "Zwei starke Personlichkeiten", Interview with Mary Neufert and Nicole Delmesin Tec21 5-6, 2015, 21-24

Newspapers

  • "Marciano Foundation in Los Angeles" in Neue Zürcher Zeitung (June 2017)
  • "Rücken an Rücken. Botta und Snohetta" in Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 21.5.2016

Clients and Employment History:  

  • SCI-Arc, Los Angeles, Adjunct Faculty for Architectural History, 2011-2012, 2017
  • OTIS College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, Adjunct Faculty for Architectural Theory, 2015-present
  • Woodbury University, Los Angeles, Adjunct Faculty for Architectural Theory, 2015
  • Roski School of Fine Arts at USC, Los Angeles, Adjunct Faculty for Art History, 2011
  • University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur, Adjunct Faculty for Architectural Theory, 2005-2007