ABOUT
My name is Luisa Hilmer, and I am a designer and design historian.
Based at the Leuphana University in Lüneburg (Germany) my PhD research focuses on participatory design in urban planning. It investigates hybrid tools and applications that support citizen feedback and highlights the extent to which they can remove barriers concerning participatory design. The study contributes to both technology-mediated citizen participation and effective methods of participatory urban planning in European cities.
By exploring case studies that are linked to mobility strategies, I look at the relationships between the design of the tools and the practice of participatory processes.
I hold a Master of Arts in History of Design from the Royal College of Art and Victoria & Albert Museum as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. While studying the history of design and material culture, I explored artefacts of the collections. My dissertation research was on Participatory Design in British housing design, comparing historical with contemporary case studies.
As a volunteer, I am the Chapter Curator for Design Calendar Hamburg being responsible for listing the best design events, talks, workshops and exhibitions in Hamburg every month. Please feel free to check it out:
You can learn more about my credentials on LinkedIn.
EXHIBITIONS
CURATORIAL
PROJECTS
as curatorial assistant
FAST FASHION. DARK SIDES OF FASHION
curated by Claudia Banz
• 20.03. - 20.09.2015 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
• 05.12.2015 - 03.07.2016 • Deutsches Hygiene Museum Dresden, Germany
• 21.07. - 9.09.2017 • RMIT Gallery Melbourne, Australia
MKG ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR 2015/2016
• 27.11. - 06.12.2015 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
• 25.11. - 04.12.2016 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
JEWELLERY ROOM. WOLFGANG SKOLUDA
• 14.03. - 01.05.2016 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
ART NOUVEAU. THE GREAT UTOPIAN VISION
• 17.10.2015 - 28.02.2016 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
FOOD REVOLUTION 5.0
curated by Claudia Banz
• 19.05. - 29.10.2017 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
CRITICAL TIDE
curated by Julia Lohmann, Pirjo Haikola, Gillian Russell, Gero Grundmann
• 06.09. - 27.10.2019 • Design Museum Helsinki, Finland
• 03.12.2019 - 15.01.2020 • Committee of the Regions Brussels, Belgium
LIFE ON PLANET ORSIMANIRANA
curated by Jerszy Seymour, Amica Dall (Assemble) and Emanuele Braga (MACAO)
• 22.01. - 25.07.2021 • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Germany
Please visit the online archive of RADIO ORSIMANIRANA here:
as curatorial collective
GRADUATION SHOW. ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART
• January 2017 • Royal College of Art London, UK
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
RESEARCH
PDC 2022
CO-ORGANISING PDC PLACE GERMANY
PDC (Participatory Design Conference) 2022 interfaces with a number of international “PDC Places” – smaller in-person events and activities running in different locations around the world – with each Place shaped and organised by local PD researchers and practitioners.
Based at the Institute for Urban and Cultural Area Research (IFSK) at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, Germany, the PDC Place will be launched in the pre-conference period. The idea is to coordinate the local seminar »Participatory Design in Cities« for students to share their PD experiences and projects related to PD in urban planning. Using the infrastructure and facilities of the Leuphana University the seminar will be held at the campus. Guest lectures by project partners and joint discussions will invite students to reflect on the role of urban actors and to engage with the relationship between theoretical and urban practice. The aim is to foster interdisciplinary exchange by supporting students as qualified researchers while bringing local aspects and a wider conversation to the PDC conference.
Join us on Instagram!
SWISS DESIGN NETWORK – DESIGN AS COMMON GOOD CONFERENCE
25-26 March 2021
• Panel: Activating Processes in the Cultural and Civic Space – Paper: "Participatory Design in Design Museums as Platforms for Common Good" Luisa Hilmer, Lisa Rotzinger, Iria Suárez.
• Panel: Future Scenarios for Crisis and Resilience – Paper: "Speculative Citizen Design – Design for Resilience through Low-Threshold and Community-Based Speculative Design" Aïcha Abbadi, Luisa Hilmer.
You can find the proceedings here.
PROJECTS
PARTICIPATORY DESIGN CONFERENCE 2020
• Exploratory Paper: "Participatory Housing – Segal's Self-build Method"
Publication: PDC '20: Proceedings of the 16th Participatory Design Conference
2020 - Participation(s) Otherwise - Volume 2
June 2020, Pages 68 - 71 https://doi.org/10.1145/3384772.3385156