At the end of the summer semester 2024 the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, bid farewell to Prof Michael F. Rohde with the appointment area of "Light-Space Communication". Rohde was Vice Dean of the faculty for three years from the 2015/2016 winter semester.
Since 2006, Rohde has taught on the English-language Master's degree programme in Architectural Lighting Design, which was initiated at Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, in 2001 and is considered a pioneer throughout Germany. Over the past 18 years, Rohde has taught students from all over the world who have travelled to the Hanseatic City of Wismar from every continent. During this time, he initiated the Light Symposium Wismar, was part of international research projects such as "Light4Health" and supervised workshops such as "Light for Neuruppin" and "Dynamic Light".
Michael F. Rohde also taught on the part-time, English-language Master's distance learning programme "Lighting Design - Architectural Lighting and Design Management" at the subsidiary of Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences, WINGS (Wismar International Graduation Services GmbH). He will remain active in teaching here in the future.
Highlights in retrospect
- Light Symposium Wismar – Rohde initiated the Light Symposium Wismar (LSW) for the first time in 2008 as a meeting place for lighting designers, architects and interior designers as well as representatives from the medical profession from all over the world as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences. From the very beginning, the event has been organised in close cooperation with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH Stockholm, Sweden) and other partners from the international specialist elite. The debate on light in social, urban planning, architectural, interior design, health and energy policy dimensions was thematised.
- Light4Health – New projects in which Rohde is involved have emerged from a constantly growing international network. For example, the European Union's Erasmus+-funded research project "Light4Health" (light and health) from 2018 to 2021 with academic and non-academic partners from Europe, the USA and Russia.
- International lighting workshop in Neuruppin – For around fourteen years, until 2021, Prof Michael F. Rohde will also accompany students to the Fontanestadt for the week-long international lighting workshop in Neuruppin, where they will use light to set the scene for architecture, monuments, landscapes and bodies of water. Year after year, interested visitors strolled through the worlds of light and took part in special guided tours.
- Dynamic Lighting – Supported by the lighting industry, the "Dynamic Lighting" workshop was held several times on the campus of Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences. Exciting lighting designs were presented on facades, staircases and other architectural light projection surfaces of the faculty building. Technical requirements, the use of so-called "media facade tools" and the effect of colours were worked out together beforehand.
From Architecture to light
Michael F. Rohde studied architecture at the University of Karlsruhe. This was followed by a three-year employment as an architect in Mannheim with Prof Carlfried Mutschler. He obtained his Master's degree in "Light and Lighting", funded by a scholarship from Siemens AG, at the Bartlett School of Architecture at the University College of London (UCL) in 1992. Rohde then worked for several years at the Siemens AG lighting factory in southern Germany. In 1998, he founded his own company "L-Plan Lichtplanung" in Berlin and designed lighting for national and international clients.