Prof. em. Peter Jenny

Peter Jenny has held the position of Professor of Visual Design at ETH Zurich since June 1st, 1977, originally in the capacity of Assistant Professor, then as a senior lecturer and as Full Professor, specializing in the basics of design. He retired end of September 2007.

Peter Jenny was born on May 16, 1942 in Sool in the canton of Glarus; he studied design between 1958 and 1965. A preliminary course at the Zurich Kunstgewerbeschule and studies in typography, photography, graphics and experimental design were the basis of his education in the Bauhaus tradition. His activities as a designer comprise a number of areas of design relevant to his training. Between 1965 and 1973 Peter Jenny headed his own office for design with the emphasis on cultural areas. In 1965 he was appointed designer of the cultural magazine , a position which he held until 1973. During this time he gave a number of lectures on visual communication and the conception of teaching models for different types of school.

In addition to the work in his office, he has taught continuously: 1969-1970: teacher at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zurich. 1971-1977: teacher and co-founder of the F+F (Farbe und Form - Colour and Form) school for experimental design in Zurich, where he is currently a director. 1975-1977: lecturer at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, department of arts and social sciences: experiments in the visual portrayal of human beings. Numerous exhibitions on ways of teaching in Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the USA.

Since 1990, lectures, exhibitions and courses at the Bauhaus in Dessau. 1996 exhibition and lectures at the Bauhaus Archives in Berlin. In 1974 Peter Jenny participated at the Venice Biennale with the Zurich F+F School (with Hansjörg Mattmüller, Doris and Serge Stauffer), and at the 1991 Architecture Biennale with the Federal Institute of Technology (with Herbert Kramel). A number of Peter Jenny's many publications have received awards.