Prof. Dr. Helga Schmid

Prof. Dr. Helga Schmid arbeitet an der Schnittstelle von Designtheorie und -forschung, Zeitforschung sowie künstlerischer Praxis. Sie untersucht, wie digitale Technologien, gesellschaftliche Rhythmen und Gestaltung unsere Wahrnehmung und Organisation von Zeit beeinflussen. Auf dieser Grundlage entwickelt sie alternative Zeitmodelle, sogenannte Uchronien, die kollektive und ökologische Zeit in „Atemporal Events“ und immersiven Arbeiten erfahrbar machen. In der Lehre verbindet sie kritisches und spekulatives Design mit praxisbasierter Designforschung.

Akademische Positionen

• Seit 2024: Visiting Fellow, University of the Arts London
• Seit 2024: Professorin für Designtheorie und Designforschung, FH Potsdam
• 2021–2024: Programme Director, Graphic Design Communication, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
• 2019–2021: Course Leader, BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
• 2018–2019: Pathway Leader und Senior Lecturer im Master of Research in Communication Design am Royal College of Art, London
• 2014–2018: Associate Lecturer, MA Information Experience Design und MA Visual Communication, Royal College of Art, London
• 2010–2011: Researcher im Architecture and Design Department des Museum of Modern Art, New York

Akademische Ausbildung

• PhD in Visual Communication, Royal College of Art, London (2011 – 2017)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Art & Design Education, Royal College of Art, London (2018 – 2020)
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA), School of Visual Arts, New York (2008 – 2010)
• Diplom (FH) Kommunikationsdesign, Hochschule Augsburg (2002 – 2007)
• Auslandsemester an der Unitec University, Auckland (2005)

Artist Residency, Somerset House Studios, London (2019 – 2024)
Designer in Residence, Design Museum London (2018 – 2019)
Evening Standard: London’s Most Influential People 2019 in AR/VR
DAAD-Doktorandenstipendium, Royal College of Art, London (2013 – 2014)
Nominiert als „New Visual Artist“, PRINT Magazine, New York (2011)
DAAD-Masterstipendium, School of Visual Arts, New York (2009 – 2010)
Fulbright-Stipendium, School of Visual Arts, New York (2008 – 2009)
Art Directors Club Awards, New York (2010)
Type Directors Club Awards, New York (2009 und 2010)
:Output International Award, Amsterdam (2009)
Die schönsten deutschen Bücher, Stiftung Buchkunst (2007)

Ausgewählte Ausstellungen 

• Circadian Dreams, MIT Museum, Boston (2025 – 2026)
• Circadian Dreams, Museum of Applied Arts, Winterthur (2024 – 2025)
• Circadian Dreams, Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design, Tallinn (2023 – 2024)
• Circadian Works, EPFL ArtLab, Lausanne (2022 – 2023)
• Take Your Time, British Science Festival, Leicester (2022)
• Circadian Dreams, Z33 – House for Contemporary Art, Hasselt (2020)
• Take Your Time, Vienna Design Week, Wien (2020)
• 24 Hours in Uchronia, Atemporal Event, Somerset House, London (2020)
• Designing Time, Design Museum, London (2019)
• I See That I See What You Don’t See, XXII Triennale di Milano / Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam (2019)
• Circadian Space, Istanbul Design Biennial (2018)
• Communicating the Intangible, London Design Festival, London (2017)
• Escape Time, Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2017)
• Whimsical Cloud, Venice Design Week, Venedig (2015)
• One Word at a Time, Arts in Bushwick, New York (2010)
• Table & Chair, Pen & Paper, Text & Time, Visual Arts Gallery, New York (2010)
• Table & Chair, Pen & Paper, Text & Time, Dia:Chelsea, New York (2010)

Ausgewählte Vorträge 

• Time is Present, Porto Design Biennale, Porto (2025)
• Temporal Ecospheres, Munich Creative Business Week, München (2025)
• Uchronia, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (2024)
• Algorithmic Cultures of Time, Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, Zürich (2022)
• Art & Design, Chilean Design Month, Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, Online (2021)
• Speculative Activism: Design Rethinks Our Society, Vienna Design Week, Wien (2020)
• Designing Time, Design Museum, London (2019)
• “I See That I See What You Don’t See” Symposium, Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam (2019)
• Work Marathon: Dream, Sleep and Work, Serpentine Gallery, London (2018)
• Circadian Space, Istanbul Design Biennale, Istanbul (2018)
• 10 × 10 British Arts Council, London Design Week, London (2018)
• Embodiment of Digital Time, Re:publica 18, Berlin (2018)
• Risk Society, Design Museum, London (2018)
• Communicating the Intangible, London Design Week, London (2016)
• Escape Time, Zündfunk Netzkongress 15, München (2015)

(Auswahl)

• Walker, K., & Schmid, H. (2025). The shape of “Computime”: How Silicon Valley time is becoming everyone’s time. Leonardo, 1–13. (in press)
• Schmid, H., & Walker, K. (2021). The Atemporal Event. Journal of Artistic Research, (25).
• Schmid, H., & Walker, K. (2021). Anti-clockwise: Building a critical mass against clock time. Art & the Public Sphere, 9(1–2), 39–61.
• Schmid, H. (2020). Uchronia: Designing Time. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag.
• Schmid, H. (2020). Designing Temporal Systems: An essay on synchronisation processes and alternative time. In S. Foraita, B. Herlo, & A. Vogelsang (Eds.), Matters of Communication – Formen und Materialitäten gestalteter Kommunikation (pp. 234–242). Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.
• Schmid, H. (2020). Zeitgeber in der Zeitkrise: Überlegungen zu einer alternativen Wahrnehmung von Zeit. In C. Mareis, C. Blümle, & C. Windgätter (Eds.), Visuelle Zeitgestaltung. Bildwelten des Wissens. Berlin: De Gruyter.
• Schmid, H. (2019). Embodiment of Space. In G. Brooker, H. Harriss, & K. Walker (Eds.), Interior Futures. Yountville: Crucible Press.
• Schmid, H. (2018). Utopia and Uchronia: A new experimental approach to thinking about time. In M. Erlhoff & W. Jonas (Eds.), Board of International Research in Design @ New Experimental Research in Design (BIRD @ NERD), 15–16 June 2017, Braunschweig. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag.
• Schmid, H. (2018). Digital Bodies: Embodiment of Time. In S. Broadhurst & S. Price (Eds.), Digital Bodies: Creativity and Technology in the Arts and Humanities. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.