Meet the founder
Crossing boundaries through education
Find answers about programmes, enrolment, learning formats and support to help you choose your next step with confidence.
His work connects architecture, design education and international leadership, helping people develop the skills, confidence and perspective to shape their own futures.
Peter’s journey
From building institutions to building pathways
Peter’s career began in architecture and urban design, where he learned to understand people, see systems and turn complexity into practical ideas. Over time, his focus shifted from designing spaces to creating learning environments.
Across Europe and Asia, he has helped build institutions that connect creativity, technology and practice. Boötes Academy continues that journey, helping people develop their capabilities and find direction in a changing world.
“The most valuable education does not only transfer knowledge. It helps people discover what they are capable of doing.”
Architectural foundations
Learning to see complexity
Peter trained as an architect and design educator, earning a Master’s degree from ETH Zurich. Architecture taught him to navigate uncertainty, understand human needs and collaborate across disciplines.
Architecture became the foundation for a broader interest in how people learn, collaborate and create.
These experiences shaped a belief that guides Boötes Academy: meaningful education connects knowledge with practice. People need opportunities to apply ideas, test them, receive feedback and grow through the process.
International experience
Learning across cultures
Peter’s work across Europe and Asia showed him how differently people see the world—and how cultures, disciplines and expectations shape the way we collaborate. He came to see cultural understanding as an essential capability. Alongside technical skills, people need curiosity, humility and confidence to work across boundaries.
This perspective shapes Boötes Academy’s approach to developing professional competence, cultural intelligence and self-awareness.
“Crossing cultures is not only about going somewhere else. It is about learning to see differently.”
Educational leadership
Creating places where people can grow
Peter has spent much of his career building and leading educational institutions, from a school of architecture in Bern to the Shenzhen International School of Design at Harbin Institute of Technology.
These experiences reinforced his belief that education has the greatest impact when it combines ambition, practical challenges and human support. Learners grow through strong mentorship, real projects and the freedom to develop their own perspective.
Explore our programmesWhy Boötes exists
Why do so many capable people feel unprepared?
Through his work in education, Peter kept returning to one question: why do capable people leave education without a clear path into meaningful work?
The problem was rarely a lack of intelligence or ambition. It was a gap between what people learned and what a changing world required.
Alongside technical skills, people need direction, confidence, collaboration and cultural fluency. Boötes Academy was created to respond to this gap.
Founding principles
Practical skills and global futures
-
Skills must be practical
Learning should lead to capabilities people can use in real work and life.
-
Careers must be navigable
People need guidance, feedback and a sense of direction—not only access to content.
-
Futures must be global
Education should prepare people to work, collaborate and move across cultures and borders.
The Boötes name
A constellation
for finding direction
Boötes is about helping people move from uncertainty towards belonging, capability and opportunity.
The name Boötes comes from a constellation associated with guiding travellers through unfamiliar spaces. For Peter, it became a symbol of the Academy’s purpose.
Boötes Academy helps people find direction amid changing industries, new technologies, unfamiliar cultures and uncertain career paths. It gives learners the clarity and capability to choose their own way forward.
Educational values
Education with a human face
Peter believes education should combine excellence with empathy, building real capability while supporting people through transition, doubt and change.
-
Practical
Rooted in projects, challenges and real-world application.
-
Personal
Responsive to individual goals, strengths and circumstances.
-
Collaborative
Strengthened by mentors, peers and diverse perspectives.
-
International
Open to different cultures, places and ways of thinking.
-
Empowering
Designed to help people act, not only understand.
Peter’s work today
Building Boötes Academy
Based between Hong Kong and Malaysia, Peter is building an academy that connects technology, design, leadership and international opportunity for learners across Asia-Pacific, Europe and beyond.
His ambition is to help people develop the skills, confidence and connections to build meaningful futures—whether entering a new field, changing careers or building a life across borders.
About us
Find your pathway
A shared journey towards what is next
Peter’s story reflects the belief behind Boötes Academy: people grow with practical tools, honest support and space to find their own direction. If you are ready to develop your skills, clarify your path or explore new opportunities, we would be glad to welcome you.
