Stephen A. Wischer

Dr. Stephen Alexander Wischer is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Chair of the Graduate Thesis Committee in the School of Design, Architecture and Art at North Dakota State University. His research and teaching examine how architectural imagination operates as a disciplined act of narrative translation - transforming cultural memory, artefact, and lived experience into spatial consequence.

Drawing on phenomenology and hermeneutics, his graduate seminars and design studios position architecture as a world-making practice. Students engage history, literature, poetry, and contemporary art as generative grounds for architectural configuration through models, drawings, and constructed form. Central to this work is the development of artefactual making as a pedagogical method, culminating in the annual Speculative Architecture exhibition, where design research and public encounter intersect.

Professor Wischer holds a BFA from the University of Alberta (1998) and both an M.Arch and MFA from the University of Calgary (2004). He completed his Ph.D. at McGill University (2021), where his dissertation examined Anselm Kiefer’s La Ribaute as a model for architectural representation and narrative spatialization. His current research extends this work into a broader investigation of materiality, modelling, and theoretical projects in architecture from the eighteenth century to the present. His scholarship has been presented and published internationally.

Peer-Reviewed Book Projects

2025: Speculative Architecture and Oblique Representation.

Co-Editor and Co-Curator (with Anthony Faris). Peer-reviewed exhibition catalogue documenting speculative architectural research and artefact-based design, Memorial Union Gallery, North Dakota State University (2017–2025).

Dissertations and Theses

2021: Wischer, S. Architectural Lessons from Anselm Kiefer: La Ribaute and the Space of Dramatic Representation.PhD Dissertation, McGill University. Archived/published 2021.

https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/4f16c7298

2004: Wischer, S. Hybrid Vigor: Impulse and Impetus. Master of Fine Arts Thesis, University of Calgary. Published at Library and Archives Canada.

2004: Wischer, S. Hybrid Vigor: Transcending Style in Architecture. Master of Architecture Thesis, University of Calgary. Catalogued at the MacKimmie Library (University of Calgary) and the Chester Fritz Library (University of North Dakota).

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

2025: “Reclaiming Architectural Imagination through Material Artefacts and Storytelling,” Athens Journal of Architecture, Vol. 12, pp. 1–22.

2022: “Spiritual Lessons from Anselm Kiefer for Architectural Pedagogy,” in_bo, Vol. 13, No. 7, pp. 10–25.

2012: “Incarnations of Paul Celan’s Todesfuge in the Paintings of Anselm Kiefer and Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, Berlin,” Canadian Center for Academic Art and Science, Vol. 1, Issue 2.

2009: “Artefacts: A Site for Poetic Inquiry and Embodied Meaning,” Design Principles and Practices, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp. 55–67.

2008: “Essence and Ambiguity: Phenomenological Approaches to Design,” Design Principles and Practices, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 93–101.

Peer-Reviewed Chapters in Books

2016: “The Architecture of Anselm Kiefer: La Ribaute and the Space of Dramatic Representation,” in CHORA 7: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture, eds. A. Pérez-Gómez and S. Parcell (McGill-Queen’s University Press), pp. 303–322.

2014: “The Architectural Lessons of Anselm Kiefer’s La Ribaute,” Architecture and Culture, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (Bloomsbury), pp. 245–260.

2012: “Narrative Transformations and the Architectural Artefact,” in Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions, eds. MacLeod, Hanks, and Hale (Routledge), pp. 132–143.

Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations and Proceedings

2026: (with Anthony Faris) “Worlds of Making and Exhibition: Reclaiming Architectural Pedagogy as Poetic Inquiry in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” accepted peer-reviewed paper for Teaching and Learning Conference on the Built Environment: A Focus on Pedagogy, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain (forthcoming).

2026: “Reenacting Place through Poetic Practice,” in proceedings of the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum (ACSF15), Varanasi, India.

2025: “Reclaiming Architectural Imagination through Material Artefacts and Storytelling,” in proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Architecture, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), Athens, Greece.

2022: “Anselm Kiefer and Architectural Storytelling,” in proceedings of the AIARG Annual Conference, Architecture and Its Stories, University College Dublin, Irish Architectural Archive, and Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.

2014: “The Architectural Lessons of Anselm Kiefer’s La Ribaute,” presented at Atmospheres: Action, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

2013: “La Ribaute: Architectural Hermeneutics and Dramatic Representation,” in proceedings of the 2nd Annual International Conference on Architecture, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), Athens, Greece.

2012: “Poetic Origins and the Everyday,” presented at Atmospheres: Experiencing the Everyday, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.

2012: “Architectural Hermeneutics Beyond Formal Aesthetics,” in proceedings of the International Society for the Philosophy of Architecture (ISPA) Conference, Newcastle University, United Kingdom.

2011: “The Body and Narrative in Architectural Creation,” in proceedings of the Design Principles and Practices Conference, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.

2010: “Narrative Transformations and the Architectural Artefact,” in proceedings of the Narrative Space Conference, University of Leicester, United Kingdom.

2009: “Embodied Knowledge and Architectural Orientation,” presented at the Maurice Merleau-Ponty Circle Conference, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, USA.

2009: “Memory and Imagination in Poetic Experience,” presented at the Architecture and Phenomenology Conference, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan.

2009: “Artefacts and Embodied Meaning,” presented at the Design Principles and Practices Conference, Technical University of Berlin, Germany.

2008: “On the Criticality of Artefacts,” presented at the Prague Interpretation Colloquium, Prague, Czech Republic.

2008: “Essence and Ambiguity: Phenomenological Approaches to Design,” in proceedings of the Design Principles and Practices Conference, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.

Invited Scholarly Reviews

2024: Review of The Feeling of Space by Christopher Bardt, MIT Press.

2024: Review of Embodied Awareness and Space: Body, Agency and Current Practice by Christos Kakalis and David Boyd, Palgrave Macmillan.

Curatorial Work

2017–present: Co-Curator (with Anthony Faris), Speculative Architecture and Oblique Representation, Annual Graduate Exhibition, Memorial Union Gallery, North Dakota State University.

Juried Exhibitions / Installations

2025: Damnatio Memoriae, Memorial Union Gallery, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND (Group Exhibition), Oct. 14 – Nov. 13, 2025.

2014: In Crypt: On New Worlds Reordered, Ruth and Seymour Landsfield Atrium, Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND (Solo Exhibition/Installation), Oct. 17 – Feb. 22, 2014.

2009: Carnal Echoes, CAAD Gallery, Mississippi State University School of Architecture, MS (Group Exhibition), Sept. 5 – Oct. 5, 2009.

2003: Hybrid Vigor, Nickle Arts Museum, University of Calgary, AB, Canada (MFA/M.Arch Solo and Group Thesis Exhibition/Installation), Nov. 2003 – Jan. 2004.

2003: The Theatre Tirade, The Little Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada (Solo Exhibition), Apr. 2003.

2002: The Visionary City, City of Calgary Art Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Apr. 2002.

2002: Masters in Pieces, The Little Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada (Solo Exhibition), May 2002. 2001: A Comment on the Tranquil, Faculty of Environmental Design Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada (Solo Exhibition), Oct. 2001.

2000: Architectural Exhibition, Institute of Modern Canadian Art (IMCA) Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), May 2000.

1998: Junk, Latitude 53 Gallery, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Aug. 1998.

1994: 108 Pyramids, Exterior Installation, Grant MacEwan Community College, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Juried Installation), Feb. 1994.

Non-Juried Group Exhibitions / Installations

2014: On Sacrifice and Warfare, Renaissance Hall Art/Architecture Building, NDSU, Fargo, ND (Faculty and Student Exhibition for Centennial Celebration of NDSU Architecture Program).

2012: Display of Creative Work, Klai Hall, Fargo, ND (Faculty Exhibition for NAAB Accreditation Review), Mar. 2012.

2009: Citizen X, Met Room Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (Group Exhibition), Mar. 7 – Apr. 9, 2009.

2008: Hybrid Vigor Project, Renaissance Hall Art/Architecture Building Gallery, NDSU, Fargo, ND (Solo Exhibition), Jan. 1 – 30, 2008.

2006: Display of Creative Work, Renaissance Hall Art/Architecture Building, NDSU, Fargo, ND (Faculty Exhibition for NAAB Accreditation Review), Mar. 2006.

2003: Art Auction, The Little Gallery, University of Calgary, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Nov. 2003. 1999: The Art Mentor Group Exhibition, The Fifth Dimension Studio, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Feb. 1999.

1998: Schmoozy II, Art Show and Auction, Latitude 53 Gallery, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Dec. 1998.

1998: Schmoozy, Art Show and Auction, Latitude 53 Gallery, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), Sept. 1998.

1998: Bachelor of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition, Fine Arts Building (FAB) Gallery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Group Exhibition), May 1998.

1995: FireWorks, Grant MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB, Canada (Graduate Group Exhibition), May 1995.

1993: Down with Establishment, Performance, Alberta Legislative Building, Edmonton, AB, Canada, Feb. 1993.

Graduate Courses

ARCH 772 – Design Thesis

ARCH 771 – Advanced Architectural Design

ARCH 726 – Current Architectural Theory Seminar: Storytelling and Architectural Imagination

ARCH 726 – Current Architectural Theory Seminar: Language and Architecture

ARCH 789 – Seminar: Intervals in the Philosophy of Architecture

ARCH 691 – Thesis Supervision

Undergraduate Courses

ARCH 379 – Berlin to Barcelona (Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain)

ARCH 379 – Summer Study Seminar (Germany)

ARCH 494 – Poetry and Architectural Experience

ARCH 474 – International Design Studio: Term Abroad Program (Spain)

ARCH 725 – Excursion Elective to Rome

ARCH 272 – Architectural Design II

ARCH 271 – Second-Year Architectural Design I

ARCH 326 – Second-Year Architectural Design Theory

ENVD 172 – Environmental Design Fundamentals

ENVD 132 – Environmental Design Fundamentals

2026: Bison Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Fund Award ($6,000), Speculative Architecture: Ten Years of Artefactual World-Making.

2014: DesignIntelligence, named one of the 30 Most Admired Educators.

2010–2011: Provost Graduate Fellowship, McGill University.

2010–2011: Principal’s Graduate Fellowship, McGill University.

2007: Apple Polisher Intercampus Award, North Dakota State University.

SERVICE (2020–2025)

Departmental Service

Chair, Graduate Thesis Committee, Department of Architecture, NDSU, 2022–present.

Graduate Studio Coordinator, Department of Architecture, NDSU, 2022–present:

– Coordination of graduate design studios

– Mentoring and supervision of thesis students

– Ongoing refinement and development of graduate curriculum

Elected Member, Department Promotion, Tenure, and Evaluation (PTE) Committee, 2025.

Member, Department Chair Search Committee, 2020.

College / University Service

Member, College Curriculum Committee, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, NDSU, 2024–2025.

Faculty Collaborator, Memorial Union Gallery, NDSU, 2021–present:

– Academic and curatorial collaboration supporting exhibitions, critiques, and public programming

– Integration of gallery resources into graduate pedagogy and thesis development