| History | John Schenk studied architecture at the University of Adelaide, South Australia, graduating with honours in 1964. Bonded to the Commonwealth Department of Works following four years as a cadet, he worked as an Architect Class 1, firstly at Woomera, where he was in charge of a day labour force of 400 personnel and then as a contract supervisor based in Adelaide. He continued his professional studies at the University of California at Berkeley and was awarded a Master of Architecture in 1967. His first teaching job was as a Teaching Assistant at an experimental “Summer Residence College” within the U.C. College of Letters and Science, an initiative organised as a reaction to large class sizes, in which the students obtained a grant, administered the program and selected the faculty. This was followed by professional experience in a number of prestigious firms in the Boston and Cambridge area. These American experiences greatly influenced his architectural and educational philosophies.
From there he was appointed to the School of Architecture and Building at the SAIT. He has maintained his association with the School (now Art, Architecture and Design at the University of South Australia) for four successive decades, as Lecturer, Program Director and Acting Head. During this time he has continued to teach collaboratively with staff and students in the Planning and Construction Management and Economics disciplines. In the same vein, he spent periods of study leave at the South Australian Housing Trust, The State Heritage Branch and at Cambridge University.
John has maintained a close involvement with the architecture profession serving as Chapter Councillor and a Vice President of the Australian Institute of Architects (SA Chapter), on various national and chapter committees, as a jury member for the awards program, and has been involved in architectural competitions as winner, jury member and competition advisor. He was the State Coordinator of the RAIA Significant 20th Century Architecture Program (1982 – 85). He has served as the national assessor for the National Program of Assessment by the Architects Accreditation Council of Australia and sat on a number of National Visiting Panels for the accreditation of Schools of Architecture. He is a Life Fellow of the AIA and was appointed a Sessional Commissioner in the South Australian Environment Resources and Development Court.
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