Baur has dual French and Swiss nationalities, and graduated in graphic design from the Zürich School of Applied Arts. After having created BBV (Lyons–Milan–Zürich) in 1983, in 1989 he set up Integral Concept, presently comprising the studios of five independent partners, who are able to intervene jointly on any cross-disciplinary project. Between 1989 and 1994, he coordinated the department of design ‘information space’ at the École des Beaux-Arts, Lyons; between 1994–1996 he ran a course based on the theme ‘civic and design spaces’. In 1995, he became professor of corporate design at the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst, Leipzig, where he was rector from 1997 until 2000. There he created the Interdisciplinary Design Institute (2id) in 1999. In April 2004 he set up the Design Institute at the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst der Stadt Zürich (HGKZ). He regularly teaches at Laval University, Québec (École de Percée), the CAFA of Beijing, China, and the Lu Xun Academy of Shenyang.