Robert Köpke, graduate from HFBK Hamburg and HGB Leipzig with a Master's degree in Curatorial Practice, currently works at the intersection of curation, design, and art. As a Research Associate at Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, he specializes in visualizing biodiversity data through mapping.
His work, which merges art, design, and social engagement, underscores the importance of dynamic public spaces. Robert is actively involved in community-centric projects, focusing on sustainability and collaborative design methods. His contributions to projects like the Floating University Berlin and R-Urban in Paris showcase his ability to blend urban and ecological aspects in his curatorial endeavors. Committed to transforming societal structures, Robert creates participatory experiences that appeal to diverse audiences.
- “New Ways of Working” analyzes changes in hierarchical structures due to digitalization in a large industrial company. It explores the historical evolution of workplace hierarchies and critically assesses current reorganizations using concepts like sociocracy, holacracy, and empowerment. The study, focusing on three different departments, concludes that these changes lead to only apparent participation, shifting workload from management to employees without offering true self-organization. It questions the feasibility of implementing non-hierarchical organizational structures in such a large company.
- In the installation, a recreated workplace of the 1980s, there are hidden Augmented Reality animations that become visible by using a mobile device. The animations stand as a metaphor for new ways of working that are superimposed on 1980s corporate structures without changing or questioning the existing system.
Location: HFBK Hamburg
Photography: Maximilian Koppernock
Date: July 2019