The Design Department fosters critical engagement with dominating knowledge systems such as the established design canon and renegotiates prefigured conceptions of expertise, and what is regarded as "best design practices." We are therefore invested in other-than-disciplinary explorations and the problematization of design as a discipline (an established field), a practice (something we are actively involved in shaping), and a concept (a system of thought) [Willis, 2006].

We encourage designers from diverse backgrounds, ages, and abilities to join the Design Department. More important than prior education is a curious and self-driven research attitude and an openness to collaborate and engage with a broader socio-political discourse.

The outcomes of the department are wide ranging. Students produce material and immaterial works, ranging from physical and digital media, on and offline publications, moving image and sound-based works, websites, network infrastructures, games, interventions, performances, texts, educational formats and platforms. Whether we use informative, dialogical, discursive, or confrontational forms of expression, as designers, our work aims to relate and communicate with others. This makes it all the more important to pay attention to the politics inherent in design.

Students of the Design Department apply to the programme with a project proposal, which becomes the starting point for a deeper inquiry of a subject matter or method. As students are critically reflecting on their own positions as designers, they often find themselves challenging and reformulating the very foundation of their design practice. The department sees its role in stimulating and nurturing this process, supporting students in tackling their challenges and in opening up toward new discoveries and unexpected collaborations.

As a full-time master's programme, the design course requires full commitment and attention. A study week usually consists of regular group classes and individual meetings (2 days per week) and time for self-study (2–3 days per week) during which students work on their individual research projects in the shared department studio, the workshops and the library. We furthermore plan extracurricular activities throughout the year. Invited artists, designers, and researchers contribute to the programme with their expertise by means of lectures, seminars, and workshops. Additionally the school provides manifold interdepartmental initiatives, which students are able to join during their self-study time. Students are expected to regularly and proactively visit the workshop facilities and share their explorations with the tutor team, during individual and group meetings and actively engage in peer exchange.

Next to individual and collective meetings with tutors, the writing trajectory for both the first- and the second-year students accompanies the ongoing research and making processes. The practice of writing helps students to work through obstacles, gain new insights, develop their own voices, and learn how to articulate their work.

We furthermore plan extracurricular activities throughout the year. Invited artists, designers, and researchers contribute to the programme with their expertise by means of lectures, seminars, and workshops.

For examples of student projects visit the graduation websites of 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020.