Call for applications 2021–22: MA in Design, Space and Communication

The Master Space and Communication is a design programme exploring the intersections of space, media and objects. The course’s manifesto is continuously reshaped through the intense dialogue between tutors and students, their final work becoming the ultimate expression of our ongoing investigation into what design can and could be.

Through its open, pluralistic and inquisitive curriculum, the Master Space and Communication attracts an international student body from an array of practices including art, architecture, visual communication, product design, photography and film. This range of disciplines perfectly places the course towards an expanded understanding of design in which a number of distinctive themes have developed during its ten years of existence. Among these is the investigation of film from a design perspective, and through dedicated projects, workshops, exhibitions and festivals, this Master has established a leading presence in this emerging field. Our students, selected for their rigorous, experimental approach, find in the Master the inspiration and support to successfully develop their practice well beyond the confines of their disciplines.  

The programme offers the unique opportunity to gain experience through a variety of learning modules. The modules of the course are organized so that theory and practice are equally constitutive parts of your education, developing your critical faculties and unique point of view while equipping you with the necessary skills to realize your ambitions. This Master is a two-year course that culminates with two major pieces of work: the Master Thesis presented as a visual/physical essay and the Practice Project that consist on the designing and production of a 1:1 scale spatial project with its inherent variables such as films, objects, media, installation, performance, experience, displays, texts, books and photographs product of the personal investigative process that you developed within the master. 

The first year is constituted of a series of individual or collective/group workshops, programme projects, seminars, field trips, run by world-renowned designers, architects, film makers, curators and artists. These workshops will provide you with the necessary experience to build your own skills and tools, create a network of contacts and to establish the key themes and subjects that will become the basis for your personal design practice. 

In the second year, you will focus in a theory and practice personal project which culminates in a major exhibition. During this process you will work with autonomy and responsibly through an intense dialogue with programme tutors that will support you to become a compelling communicator, able to establish an individual design discourse. 

All through the two years of the master there is great dedication from the course to support the post-documentation of your work you can finish with a powerful dossier ready to be published in different mediums. 

Since September 2020, the Master of Arts HES-SO in Design / Space and Communication is a 120 ECTS degree.

Topics: Communication / experience / installation / performance / film / expanded design / experimental / theoretical / critical / investigative / journalistic / the cinematic / narrative / research / design essay / futures / realities / fictions / social / political / engagement / visual essay

MA Space and Communication lecturers, speakers & guests include: 
Alexandra Midal, Ruedi Baur, Dominic Robson, Noam Toran, Emma Pflieger, Margaux Janin, Mónica Bello—Arts at Cern, Imma Arribas, Eric Berger, Alexandre Burdin, Jeremie Cerman, Eléonore Challine, P Djèli Clark, Matali Crasset, El Ultimo Grito, Fatou Drave, Grace Dillon, Michael Doser, François Dumas, Conny Freyer—Troika, Maarten Gielen—Rotor, Salome Guillemin, Rita Hajj, Muhammad Jabali,  Kathy Hinde, Tristan Kobler—Holzer Kobler Architekturen, Vinca Kruk & Daniel Van der Velden—Metahaven, Olivier Lebrun, Ulrich Lehmann, Steven Levon Ounanian, Oscar L’Hermitte, Lukáš Likavčan, Malak Mebkhout, Jeanne