Markus Breitschmid awarded medal in Peru
Virginia Tech Professor Markus Breitschmid has been awarded an honorary medal by the Colegio de Arquitectos del Perú, the professional association of Peruvian architects.
Breitschmid received the honor in a ceremony in Peru's capital city, Lima, from the association’s president Jose Enrique Arispe Chavez on May 21, 2015.
Breitschmid was awarded the medal for his contributions on the theme of “Modernismo Suizo.” Swiss Modernism is well recognized in Peru because a number of Swiss architects and designers, including Adolf Bührer, Theodor Cron, Walter Kern, Georg Rudolf, and Christian Tgetgel, immigrated to the Andean nation just after World War II and produced influential work that shaped the tradition of modern architecture of Peru that lasts to this day.
An author of several books and essays on the modern and contemporary architecture of Switzerland that speak to its internationally significant legacy on architecture and design, Breitschmid is an internationally active historian, theorist, and author on architecture whose books and essays have appeared in various languages including Chinese, English, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.
Breitschmid’s scholarship focuses on the aesthetic mentality of modernism and postmodernity, in particular its promulgations in architecture and philosophical aesthetics. Breitschmid has been listed among the leading contemporary architecture theorists and authors on architecture, and he has lectured at many universities, museums, and professional associations in the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
Currently a professor at the College of Architecture and Urban Studies’ and School of Architecture + Design’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, in the National Capital Region, Breitschmid has taught at Virginia Tech since 2004. He is a former chair of the Core Professional Bachelor of Architecture program in Blacksburg. He earned his Ph.D. from the Technische Universität Berlin.
