Rate My Professor Rochus Hinkel

Associate Professor Rochus Hinkel is Associate Professor in Architecture and Design at the Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2020, after holding positions as Professor of Artistic Design at OTH Regensburg in Germany and Professor of Interior Architecture and Furniture Design at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, Sweden. Hinkel earned his PhD by Creative Works from the Melbourne School of Design, with a thesis titled Expanding Architectural Agency in Public Space through Atmospheres, Actions. His academic interests encompass creative research practice, spatial design, atmospheres, urban interiors, and new media. As co-founder of Kit of Hearts and founder and co-director of the Advanced Digital Design + Fabrication (ADD+F) research hub, he leads explorations into emerging technologies including 3D scanning, CNC fabrication, AR/VR, and digital fabrication labs such as Fab_Lab, R_Lab, DF_Lab, Si_Lab, and Ex_Lab. He coordinates digital design and fabrication electives and oversees projects involving over 130 students annually. Current research collaborations include the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne and the Olkola Aboriginal Corporation at Cape York, addressing biodiversity loss, climate crisis, species extinction, industrial food production, and Indigenous knowledge systems through utopian design proposals.