MA Transversal Design

Transversal Design is a Master's programme for practice-based research that grows community infrastructures for worlds in transition. At the Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) of HGK Basel in Switzerland we investigate the social, political, ecological and technological dynamics of the systems we live by to design for grounded transformation—from alternative media, speculative models, and practices of care, to tools for solidarity and radical proposals for innovation.

Our 40 students come together across disciplines to deepen their creative practice through collaborative and critical inquiry. Design approaches are often projected as an easy fix for today’s planetary challenges—but what if business-as-usual is at the heart of our problems? How can we imagine regenerative futures?

Transversal Design combines transdisciplinary methods across practice and research to invite students to explore why, how, and for whom. You will work with core threads of transversal design—including publishing, documenting, rehearsing, hacking and processing—to expand your practice into experimental terrains. This encourages new ways of thinking about the role of design in society—by moving beyond objects, and into processes, modes of relating, questions of eco-social justice, technology, decoloniality, and the critical infrastructures on which we all depend.

The application process for the Transversal Design MA is open now until March 15, 2026. We invite all interested applicants to get in touch with any questions.

Find more details on the programme and admission process here or have a look at the Transversal Design Zine. 

About studying at Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW
We aspire to be an inspiring and ambitious academy while being welcoming, joyful and transformative. We value the diversity of our students, encourage collaboration and love surprises. On our campus, we offer studio spaces 24/7, excellently equipped workshops and labs, individual mentoring and counselling, international exchange programmes, open discourse spaces and social infrastructures. Our creative neighbourhood on the Dreispitz, the cultural city of Basel and our geographical location in the three-country triangle make the HGK Basel a unique place to study.