Xanti Schawinsky was born on March 26, 1904 in Basel, Switzerland. In 1915, he studied art in at the secondary school in Zurich. In 1921 to 1923, he apprenticeship at the Theodor Merrill architects's office in Cologne. He also went to a college of Commercial Art in Berin. In 1924, he joined Bauhaus and studied with Paul Klee, Walter Gropius, Wassily Kandinsky, L. Moholy-Nagy. He travelled to Paris and Spain where he met Le Corbusier and Fernand Leger. He began experimental photography and graphic design which then became increasingly important to his career. In 1927, he returned to the Bauhaus and produced ballets, pantomime and continued to paint.
In 1931, he was persecuted as a Jee and left Magdeburg for Berlin. In 1934, he was invited by Antonio Boggeri, the head of the Italian advertising studio Boggeri in Milan. In1936, he was hired to teach at Black Mountain College in North Carolina to teach drawing, color theory and stage studies. In 1938, he was offered to teach by Moholy-Nagy at institute for design, Chicago due to uncertain situation in Black Mountain College. In 1939, he designed the Pennsylvania Pavilion with Gropius and Breuer for the New York World's Fair.
His work has been exhibited around the world including United States, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Japan.