Born in Winterthur, Max Bill first trained as a silversmith at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich between 1924 and 1927 before continuing his studies with the Bauhaus in Dessau. In 1929 he moved to Zürich where he worked as an architect, painter, designer, printmaker and sculptor. He built two houses with studios, one in 1932-3 in Zürich-Höngg, and another in 1967-8 in Zumikon. He co-founded the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm between 1951 and 1956 and directed the architecture department there from 1952. In 1961-8 he was an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects and between 1967 and 1974 he taught at the Hamburg Hochschule für Bildende Kunst. In 1985 he became the chairman of the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin. Bill's wide-ranging artistic involvement extended also to printmaking, for which he was honoured at the 20th international graphics biennial in Ljubjana with the Grand Prix d'Honneur. This prize is one of many honours accorded to Max Bill, whose work has been exhibited widely and is housed in collections around the world