Volker Albus was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1949. After studying at the RWTH in Aachen Albus worked as freelance architect. In addition to designs for furniture and his work as interior designer and journalist, Albus also arranged several major exhibition during the eighties. In 1986, in collaboration with the group »Möbel perdu«, the concept emerged for the group exhibition »Wohnen von Sinnen« (Living from the senses) in the »Düsseldorf Kunstmuseum«, which was concerned with new design of the eighties. Exhibited were works by 120 designers from eight European countries who were representative for the major currents in new product design. In 1992 Albus was appointed to the Commission d'achat of the FNAC, Paris, and in 1994 he was appointed Professor of Product Design at the Karlsruhe State College of Design. In 1998 Albus was one of the curators of the exhibition »bewusst einfach – Das Entstehen einer alternativen Produktkultur« (deliberately simple – the creation of an alternative product culture) of the Institute for Foreign Affairs. This exhibition also focussed on new tendencies in product design since the eighties. It is currently undergoing revision and is planned to again go on tour in autumn 2004.
Volker Albus is frequently represented in many key publications with professional features and essays on current design themes and occasionally he also works as product designer. He lives near Frankfurt.