CURRICULUM

Nold Egenter, dipl. architect ETH-Z, ethnologist and architectural anthropologist (* 1938, Muttenz/Basel,
Switzerland), occasional lecturer at the University of Zurich (ethnology), former researcher at ETH-Zuerich
(gta, Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture), ETH-Lausanne (Aubry, didactive Architectural
Ethnology Program), occasional visiting lecturer at architectural schools (CEPT-Ahmedabad, Oslo, Helsinki)
and director of the 'Documentation Office for Fundamental Studies in Building Theory', Zuerich.

Before and after graduation (1967) research into planning and urbanism at the >Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology< (ORL-Institute), (1968/9) one year teaching activities (Calif. State Polytechnic Univ., San Luis
Obispo), 1969 scholarship of the Japanese Ministery of Education (MOMBUSHO); 1969-1979 research in
Japan (Kyoto University) into semantic architecture of Japanese village-Shinto rituals (ujigami). 1979/80
Research at the >Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture< (ETH-Z). 1980 Publication of research
done in Japan: >Built Form as Sign and Symbol< . Lecturer at the Ethnological Seminar of the Univ. of
Zurich: 1983 on 'Research into the village cultures of Japan. Preliminaries for a structural ergology', 1984/5
on 'The Ainu - Remains of the hunters/collector's culture at the northern edge of Japanese national
expansion'; Winter 1985/6 4 months of field- and library research on the Ainu (mainly Sapporo and
Asahigawa, Hokkaido, Japan). Since 1986 mainly research and publications in connection with the
>Documentation Office for Fundamental Studies in Building Theory< (since 1979). Besides, since 1986
research into architectural ethnology: The Ainu - House and settlement and the traditional concept of space.
Dwelling and Architecture on the level of a hunters/collectors culture . Besides, since 1989 consulting editor
with Paul Oliver's >Encyclopedia of Vernacular Architecture of the World< (3 vols., in preparation). Mainly
in this context and in connection with the buildup of a >Documentation and Research-Centre for Vernacular
Architecture< since 1990 research-collaboration with Frederic Aubry, Architectural Department, Federal
Institute of Technology at Lausanne, Switzerland. Since 1992 working on publication of 8 volumes
'Architectural Anthropology - Research Series' 1 - 8 (1992f.), 'Semantic and Symbolic Architecture' (1995),
'Shin no mihashira' (in print) and other publications (Editions Structura Mundi, Lausanne). Since1992
buildup of research office in Ahmedabad, India: Indian Rural Settlement Survey Institute (IRSSI) in
cooperation with Miki and Madhavi Desai (CEPT, Ahmedabad).

Membership in the following associations: AAA (American Anthropological Association) - AISE/IASSP

(Association Internationale de la Semiotique de l'Espace) - DGA (German Society for Asian Studies) -
EDRA (Environmental Design Research Association) - IASTE (International Assoc. for the Study of
Traditional Environment), INORA (International Committee on Rock Art) - IUAES (International Union of
Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences) - PAPER (People and Physical Environment Research) - SEG
(Swiss Ethnological Society) - SGR (Swiss Society for the History of Religions) - SGS (Swiss Society for
Symbol Research) - SGS (Swiss Society for Semiotics) - SGV (Swiss Society for Folklore Studies)

Publications : since 1979 numerous publications in various disciplines of the humanities: japanology,
ethnology, archaeology, architectural theory, philosophy, semiotics, history of religions (see Complete
Bibliography).

Note: it is relatively rare today that architectural studies are acknowledged by scientific disciplines of the
humanities. The book 'Semantic and Symbolic Architecture' (1995) received the following evaluations:
 Mircea Eliade: "A very important work."
R. J. Zwi Werblowsky (Univ. of Jerusalem): Egenter "teaches historians of religion to re-think their
own matter-of-course axiomas and assumptions." (In: >Numen<, June 1990).
Arnold Niederer (Univ. of Zurich): "...this study will still be read in 100 years from now."

And the book 'The present Relevance of the Primitive in Architecture' (vol 1 of 'Architectural Anthropology -
Research Series):

Kenneth E. Foote (Geography, Univ. of Texas at Austin): "Egenter's...fervent appeal may serve as a
rallying cry for all scholars concerned with the systematic study of architecture as a fundamental
element of human behavior." (The Semiotic Review of Books, vol. 5.2, 5/94)

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