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Friedrich von Borries: “My work focuses on the relationship between design and social development. As a scientist, I try to understand the world. As a designer, I try to change it. That’s why I research and design structures, practices, and technologies that shape our present.”
Friedrich von Borries (*1974) has been Professor of Design Theory at the HFBK Hamburg since 2009. His work deliberately moves between science, education, design and artistic practice, and occasionally also experimental entrepreneurship. His work is most productive when these fields come together in complex projects. This is evident, among other things, in:
his academic book Architecture in the Anthropocene and the accompanying exhibition Heritage of the Future at the Liebling House, Tel Aviv
the long-term scientific-artistic project Folgenlosigkeit (Consequence) with film, app, exhibition, and novel
his current research project Redesign Democratic Representation and the associated exhibition at the Museum für Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt (in preparation)
his start-up Art of X
his podcast Fantasiemuskel at Monopol
Works by Friedrich von Borries can be found in numerous museum collections, including the Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, Neue Pinakothek Munich, Museum für angewandte Kunst Vienna, and Bauhaus-Museum Weimar.
He is a liaison lecturer for the Heinrich Böll Foundation and regularly acts as a reviewer for the DFG, SNF, and the Volkswagen Foundation. He has also been a member of the jury for the Social Design Award of DER SPIEGEL magazine for many years.
Monograph
Friedrich von Borries, Architecture in the Anthropocene, Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag
Publications
Klimaerlösung: Ein Passionsspiel-Splatter, mit Tobias Frühauf und Philipp Wolpert, Merve Verlag, Leipzig, 2026
„Zehn Thesen für eine Architekturgeschichte des Anthropozäns“, in: Sebastian Hackenschmidt, Sebastian, Walter Seitter (Hrsg.): Anthropographien, Sonderzahl Verlag, Wien, 2026
„Der schmale Grat—Franz Ehrlich als ‘Designer für die Häftlingszwangsarbeit‘“, mit Jens-Uwe Fischer, in: Grassi-Museum (Hrsg.), Formen der Anpassung, Kunsthandwerk und Design im Nationalsozialismus, Hirmer Verlag, München, 2025
„Was ist eigentlich so schwer daran, Wohnungen zu bauen?“, in: Zeit online, 16. November 2025
„Auf zu einer Postanthropozänen Architektur“, in: Andreas Beitin et al. (Hrsg.), Utopia, Recht auf Hoffnung, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König, Köln, 2025
Curation
Adler, Orden, Wahlurne. Redesigning Democratic Representation, Museum Angewandte Kunst Frankfurt, 2026-27
Heritage of the Future, Liebling Haus, Tel Aviv, 2026
Third-Party Funded Projects
The Heritage of Tomorrow – Funding for an exhibition at Liebling Haus, Tel Aviv; Call for Transfer and Goethe-Institut, €40,000
Re.De.Re – Research project on design and representative democracy; Volkswagen Foundation, approx. €800,000
Miscellaneous
Fantasiemuskel – Kunst trifft Wirtschaft, Podcast, Monopol – Magazin für Kunst und Leben, 2022-ongoing
SPIEGEL Social Design Awards 2026, Juy-Mitglied
Friedrich von Borries, Architektur im Anthropozän. Eine spekulative Archäologie, Suhrkamp Verlag, 2024, book cover