The archive of the Hanseatic City of Wismar presents its extensive historical holdings, which date back to the 13th century and include not only files but also photos, drawings, plans, films and newspapers, at Gerberstraße 9a. The approximately 20 Master's students from the first two semesters collected ideas and designed concepts to noticeably improve the lighting in the entrance area and the two main corridors at this location. They were supervised by Prof. Michael F. Rohde and Bipin Rao, head of the lighting workshop at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Hochschule Wismar, University of Applied Sciences.
Impromptu design focuses on exhibitions
The impromptu design is a task to be solved quickly and at short notice with the aim of developing ideas and implementing them with one's own means. For students at the Faculty of Architecture and Design, such impromptu tasks are regularly integrated into the curriculum. The task of this impromptu project, in cooperation with the archive of the Hanseatic City of Wismar, was as follows:
For the needs of purposeful corridor and foyer lighting, the current stock in the archive is good, but for regularly changing exhibitions in the archive, the current lighting can be optimised. A lighting design similar to that in the museum is therefore being sought. So-called "flatware" such as picture frames, posters or photographs on the corridor walls or objects to be presented in showcases could, for example, be shown to better advantage and be more noticeable to the visitor. Dr Nils Jörn, head of the archive, would also like to be able to implement the best ideas as part of the renovation of the archive's lighting system. The morning in the archive showed which designs and ideas the students presented from the assignment and to what extent they were able to apply what they had learned so far from their studies.
After the presentations, Prof. Michael F. Rohde informed us that from now on we will be planning an impromptu together with the Hanseatic City of Wismar in the following semesters. We are looking forward to the cooperation!
Linkage and emergence of the impromptu
Under the title "Hide and Seek", the students had illuminated the building of the Wismar volunteer fire brigade in April 2023 on the theme of "Easter fire". This led to a connection between Anni Steinhagen, Intercultural Opening Officer of the Hanseatic City of Wismar, and Prof. Michael F. Rohde, and subsequently with the archive of the Hanseatic City of Wismar and its director Dr. Nils Jörn. The idea of the impromptu was then developed together.
More also on the "Hide and Seek" project at fg.hs-wismar.de/projekte/projekt/n/hide-and-seek »