Biography

1935
Born in Zürich, Switzerland.
Grows up with 2 sisters and a much younger brother in the „Werkbundsiedlung Neubühl“, Wollishofen.
His mother, a native German, by profession a carpet weaver trained at the Bauhaus / Dessau, plays the piano well.His father, an architect also educated at the Bauhaus where he had met Nik’s mother, engages himself with art exclusively and collects pictures.

1939-1945
Second World War. Father spends more than 2 years in the military. 4 of mother’s 8 brothers died in the war. One had an arm amputated. In a small Usego shop (4x8 square meters – compare with today’s luxury shops!) everything needed was bought.
Lively contact with actors who had emigrated to Switzerland.

1942-1948
Attends primary school with 34 classmates. Teacher Speck practices corporal punishment.
6 years of violin lessons. Since he is very lazy and usually forgets his violin on the way there his Russian teacher primarily instructs him on how to behave at table and how to eat pastries elegantly and properly.

1944
During the summer holidays, he helps herd goats on Männlichen in the Bernese Oberland.

1947
Together with friend David opens his own zoo for small animals with snakes, birds, mices, frogs, lizards, etc.

1949-1955
A year in public high school, then expelled because of a fight with the religion teacher.
Tries to run away and go abroad with a friend. However, the two are picked up by the border police  and sent home. The subsequent 5 years at Freies Gymnasium Zürich. Falls madly in love with a female classmate. Is the only one to receive a grade 6 in gymnastics  at the school  leaving examination (Matura).

1953
Swiss Middle-school- Champion in orienteering.
Powered flight school in Spreitenbach: After 86 flights: „Brevet 1“ for pilots of tourist airplanes.

1954
Get a „Lambretta“-scooter and ride it all over Europe, surviving some spectacular crashes.

1956
In Payerne Air Force Recruit School at daytime temperatures of minus 30 degrees.
Trial apprenticeship as a draftsman at the Streiff Company.

1958
Brevetted as Lieutenant of the Air and Air Defence Forces.

1956-1962
Studied Architecture at the ETH in Zürich. Earns his holiday money as a sailing instructor on Lake Zürich. Competes unsuccessfully in downhill and cross-country skiing races.
Spends his leisure time with beautiful women, smokes, drinks alcohol and listens to jazz.
Various trips to Paris. His main hobby at this time: dance! And in his mind turns the idea: should I become a dance-teacher?

1961
Marries Madeleine Jores, honeymoon in  Venice. The multilingual executive secretary at the US company Remington provides for Nik’s sustenance during his final year at university.

1962
Works as an architect in Bulle, French Switzerland.

1963-1964
Travels with Madeleine to New Orleans, USA, on an empty cargo ship in a hurricane.
Works as an architect in Texas (Austin), then in California (Berkeley) focussing on hotel, motel and hospital projects. Travel extensively throughout the USA and Mexico.
Attends a jazz concert with Louis Armstrong in Las Vegas.

1964-1984
As an employed Architect in various Offices in Zürich. Takes part in many competitions for hospital, university and research building projects. Plans for the Canton of Zürich Institutes for Brains Research / Virology / Molecular Biology / Parasitology and a Museum for Archeology.y.

1964
Birth of son Dominik.
As Swiss delegate, participation in congresses on higher education planning and development in various European cities. Cultural trips to Italy, Spain and Greece.

1966
Birth of son Roland (who dies four years later).

1967
Assistant to a wellknown fashion photographer in Zürich.

1970-1971
Three Semesters evening-course in advertising and graphic arts.
Adoption of son Claudio.

1973
Designed his own house (100% wood construction) in Pfaffhausen. It can for example be transformed into a theater with a stage and auditorium in just a few steps.

1978
Toured round the world: together with 1000 emigrants on an ancient transport ship in 2 weeks from Genoa to Rio. Spectacular 12-hour equator baptism. In Brazil: Copa Cabana, caught crocodiles and snakes with 2 Indians on the amazon- river / Machu Picchu / Argentina / Sri Lanka / Japan / Hongkong…

1979
With the Germanteacher Baba and friends on foot across Sardinia.

1984
Festive opening of the own architect office in Pfaffhausen. (It plays the „Harlem Rambler Jazz Band“).
About a year’s wait and then Prof. Max Birnstiel grants the order for the planning of a „Genetic Research Center“ in Vienna for Genentech, San Francisco (he then visits this company a few times) and Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany. Flies back and forth many, many times between Zürich and Vienna for 4 years. Conversion of a Streiff factory into a dinosaur Museum.

1985
Hiking trip through Sicily.

1986
New construction of a single-family-house for tenants.

1987
Hiking trip through Andalusia / Christmas in London.

1987
Bought „Bonny“, an extremely good jumping and endurance-horse.
In the military last refresher course as Senior Lieutenant

1990
„Swiss champion“ in the „Combined performance test“ for endurance riders.
Planning a large restaurant. In this context long stay.
In New York where many restaurants are photographed.

1992-1999
4 exhibitions in the „Trittligasse-Gallery“ in Zürich.
Various commissions as a graphic artist and photographer. Including an advertising campaign for the liberal city councils of Zürich - they are all elected.

1993
Exhibition at the Kunsthaus Glarus.

1994
Riding holidays with camping in the Egyptian Sahara.

1995
Hiking tour through Cyprus.

1996 6 weeks ride through the Indian desert in Rajasthan led by a cavalry colonel and his soldiers. Overnight in
Maharajah castles. Visit to the world’s largest camel market with over 50’000 camels in Pushkar.

1999
Cultural and hiking tour in Iran.
On the Austro-Hungarian border he finds his dream horse „Narvik“ with which he then wins various endurance runs.

2000
Breaks his neck in a bad fall with his horse and survives.

2001
At the invitation of friends, exhibition at the „Artfolio“-gallery in the world famous Hotel „Raffles“ in Singapore.
An extremely luxurious vernissage!
Extensive travels through Thailand and Malaysia.
Birth of granddaughter Anina.
Ride over the Oberalp- and Lukmanier-Pass into Ticino.

2002
Exhibition in the „Be Arte“ gallery in Wädenswil.
Hiking tour through Marocco.

1996-2004
President of the local association in Pfaffhausen. Great success as a cabaret artist at the Epiphany Festival. Together with volunteers he builds the „Lohholz“ forest hut.

2004
Two-month painting- and drawing stay in the „Casadel Leone“ of the „Richard Seewald Foundation“ in Ronco, Ticino.

2005
Trip to Barcelona.
Exhibition in the cultural center „Zwicky“ in Fällanden with a large gala dinner for 100 invited guests. Invitation in the form of a perfectli printed color brochure in 10 languages: „70 years of Nik Streiff-OPT-Art“.

2006
Nine week ride with Narvik and a group of adventurous ladies from Berlin to the Baltic See and from there across Poland (Masuria) to the russian border.

2007
Sailing on the 5-masted boat from Venice through the Adriatic Sea past Sicily to Rome.
Writes the manuscript for the book „In the Jeep – a dramatic love story“, which takes place during a military refresher course in the Engadin.

2009
After a year of photographing around the Greifensee, the book „GREIFENSEE – Die vier Jahreszeiten“ is now being published by the „Zürcher Oberland Buchverlag“ and has been enthusiastically received.
That must also be mentioned once: he paints in every free minute!
Two weeks in Zermatt and skiing on the Spring snow.
With Narvik over 4 alpine passes to Valais and various distance runs.

2011
The book „In the Jeep“ was published by R.G.Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt.
Fullfills a childhood dream and buys a drum battery and takes drum lessons.

2012-2014
LAUDATIO IM OLYMP DER KÜNSTLER (German Article by Prof. Dr. Phil. F. E. Marc Schönberg, Berlin)
Attend the Winterthurer color courses according to CRB, practical and color-theoretical knowledge is imparted here. Makes small and large sculptures from 5 mm thick iron plates and shows them at a large outdoor exhibition in Fällanden.

2014
Flight to the Azores islands with a group of riders. A few riding days there.Then, alone, flight back to Portugal, horseback riding. Then with rental car along the whole Algarve to Lisbon.

2015
He still takes private lessons on the drums at Musik Hug. A happy coincidence brings him together with the internationally known singer Rebecca Spiteri. With her and the musicians Jürg Ramspeck (piano) and Joel Reiff (bass) he founds the “Now Jazz Quartet”. Soon they give jazz concerts, and on 2 Oct. 2015 organise a particularly festive concert in the restaurant “Schifflände” in Maur by Lake Greifensee. A sound recording is made in this context and a CD produced. (Sound recording) On it you can hear Rebecca's wonderful and unique voice and also Nik, who as an amateur on the drums sometimes has a little trouble keeping up with the complicated rhythms of the respective piece. 

2018
„ART INTERNATIONAL ZÜRICH", Creation of 5 large-size pictures to be shown – among others – at exhibition. It is mainly the Japanese who admire these pictures.
Buys a new Lambretta-Scooter and, after two falls, sells it again.

2018
Narvik, the miracle horse, must be sent to horse heaven.

2019-2022
He begins to collect little elephants – wood, stone, metal, glass and ceramic. He buys them on the flea market in Zurich and has already more than 200 of them.

2021
A film team starts shooting a Doc-Film „The restless life of Nik Streiff“.

2022
Madeleine dies on February 15th after a long illness.
Produces 2 photo books, A3 format, in which he shows all his pictures.
20.5.22 Premiere of the Doc-Film.