Rate My Professor Alexander Eisenschmidt

Alexander Eisenschmidt is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Design at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts. He earned a Diploma in Architecture from HTWK Leipzig, Germany, a Master of Architecture from Pratt Institute, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. At UIC, he teaches design studios and courses in architectural history and theory. His research centers on the relationship between city and architecture, spanning the metropolis to the contemporary global city, the dynamism between architectural space and urban networks and infrastructures, urban interiors within the metropolis, and the productive rethinking of the modern city as a springboard for architectural speculation. Eisenschmidt directs the Visionary Cities Project, a research platform on contemporary urbanism and new forms of architectural urbanism, and leads the Housing Futures Initiative, including the seminar and studio At Home with the Collective.

Eisenschmidt's scholarly contributions include authoring The Good Metropolis: From Urban Formlessness to Metropolitan Architecture (Birkhäuser, 2019), which posits the formless metropolis as an exhilarating resource for architecture; editing Félix Candela from Mexico City to Chicago: Rise and Fall of Experimentation in Concrete (Actar, 2024); co-editing Chicagoisms: The City as Catalyst for Architectural Speculation (Park Books, 2013); and guest-editing City Catalyst: Architecture in the Age of Extreme Urbanization (Architectural Design, 2012). He has curated exhibitions such as Chicagoisms at the Art Institute of Chicago (2014-2015), City Works at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale (2012), and Collective City at the Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (2015). His achievements are recognized with the CADA Distinguished Faculty Award (2020-2022), Graham Foundation publication grants (2015, 2023), ACSA Creative Achievement Award (2017), AIA/ACSA Housing Design Education Award (2025), UIC Teaching Recognition Award (2018), and Silver Circle Award (2017).