After studying set and costume design with Professor Jürgen Rose at Stuttgart State Academy of Fine Arts he moved to New York City. There he worked for eight years as video and graphic designer for the internationally renowed Wooster Group, which is known for its media theater performances under the direction of Elizabeth LeCompte.

In Germany he worked on productions at Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg, at Schauspielhaus Bochum, for the Ruhrtriennale and with Wanda Golonka at Schauspiel Frankfurt, with Sasha Waltz and Luk Perceval at Schaubühne Berlin and the Munich Kammerspielen, as well as on numerous projects with William Forsythe for Ballet Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company.

Philip Bussmann is a founding member of 2+, a collective between him, dancer and choreographer Christopher Roman, and dramaturg Célestine Hennermann. He is a recipient of the stipend studio program of the city of Frankfurt.

Philip Bussmann currently lives in Frankfurt am Main.