(Oxon) University of Oxford, D.Phil | University of Vienna, MA. (Liberal Arts)
Dr. Esther Schmidt is a global design historian whose research explores the cultural lives of interiors, architecture, and objects, and the ways in which ideas of space, ornament, and identity have travelled between Asia and Europe. Her work examines how such exchanges shaped domestic environments and contributed to the global history of design.
She is the founding director of the Centre for Historic Houses of India (CHH), designated as a National Expert Heritage Body by the National Monuments Authority, Government of India. The Centre is the first institution in India dedicated to the study and preservation of family-owned historic houses. It supports research, documentation, heritage interpretation and community engagement, and develops sustainable models for historic houses. CHH also runs internship programmes, including internship programmes developed for international universities such as the University of Oxford and brings together owners, scholars, and heritage professionals from India and abroad.
The Centre’s public lecture series, Resilience: Historic Houses of India and their Custodians and Great Minds in Heritage and Historic Houses, have featured speakers from institutions including English Heritage, the Frick Collection, the Getty Foundation, the Louvre, the National Trust (UK), the Smithsonian Institution, and the V&A. The lectures can be viewed on the Chh youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkiGpZWgJ_Q&t=9s.
Dr. Schmidt’s work bridges research and practice. She has developed designs and interpretation programmes for listed buildings and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and worked on the revitalization of historic interiors in Europe, the United States, and India. A scholar-practitioner, Dr Schmidt works at the intersection of design history and heritage practice. Her expertise includes the research, design, and interpretation of historic houses and palaces and the revitalization of historic design principles in contemporary settings.
She has lectured at Oxford, Harvard, Columbia, the Max Planck Institute, the Hebrew University, and the Institute of Advanced Study, University of London, where she was Prize Lecturer. She serves on the editorial board of History of Retailing and Consumption (Taylor & Francis) and reviews for Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Schmidt studied at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Vienna, receiving her D.Phil. from Oxford, where she was Michal Wills Scholar and tutor. She was awarded the John Lowell Osgood Prize for her research at Oxford and has received fellowships and awards from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (New York), the DAAD, the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. An alumna of the Attingham Trust, she continues to advance research and practice in the field of design history and heritage studies.
Teaching:
Heritage Management
The Past is Prologue: History of Conservation
Interiors and Interiority
Survey of Architecture and Interiors (a global perspective)
Design Writing
Historic Houses and their Collections
Principles of Interior Design
Introduction to the History of Furniture, Objects and Materials
Global Design History
