Ludwig Heimbach (1971) is an architect and founder of Ludwig Heimbach Architektur dwb BDA, an architecture practice based in Cologne, Germany. He lives and works between Cologne and Berlin. He studied architecture at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) and the University of Applied Arts Vienna, where he joined Professor Wolf D. Prix’s master class.
His practice approaches architecture as an «instrument for accelerating and decelerating between the city and the bed», exploring spatial communication across scales, from the urban realm to furniture, as well as the thresholds and filters that mediate between them. His work has been presented at venues including the German Pavilion at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale, the Deutsches Architektur Zentrum (DAZ) in Berlin, the Haus der Architektur in Graz, and the Kyoto Art Center.
Colour and chromatic sequences play an important role in his work, serving as tools for shaping interfaces with users. In this field, Heimbach has also developed a number of colour collections for the building materials industry, including for Eternit.
He became a member of the Deutscher Werkbund (dwb) in 2008, the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA) in 2009, and the Architectural Design Association of Nippon (ADAN) in 2017. In 2016, he was a resident at the Goethe-Institut’s Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto.
Alongside his architectural practice, Heimbach has taught at a number of institutions, including the Münster School of Architecture, Hochschule Mainz, the Peter Behrens School of Arts in Düsseldorf, Universität der Künste Berlin, Kyoto City University of the Arts, ETH Zürich, and KU Leuven. Since 2018, he has served on the board of the BDA Galerie Berlin.
In 2020, he initiated and curated the exhibition «Mäusebunker & Hygieneinstitut: Versuchsanordnung Berlin», first presented at the BDA Galerie Berlin and later, in 2021, in Venice during the 17th Venice Architecture Biennale. In 2025, he edited the book Mäusebunker und Hygieneinstitut. Eine Berliner Versuchsanordnung, devoted to these two examples of Berlin Brutalism.
