ma sustainable design brighton

7/30/2019 Ma Sustainable Design Brighton

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FACULTY OF ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

MA SUSTAINABLE

DESIGN

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Overview

According to the UK Design Council, 80% of a product or buildings ecological

impact is determined at the design stage. Designers are key-holders, situated

within the nucleus of the sustainability debate, and not purveyors (or procur-

ers) of bolt-on after measures that simply apply damage control, but never re-

ally gain any ground on the issue.

Despite a steady increase in growth, Sustainable Design is still very

much an unresolved approach to ecologically responsible practice. The MA

Sustainable Design aims to address this by embracing the opportunities

delineated by current practices, whilst stepping forward to pioneer new and

provocative means through which sustainability may be more fully achieved.

The MA Sustainable Design at Brighton places critical debate at its core,as a means to fully explore, create and implement practical and effective

ways of designing, producing and consuming, in an age of looming

ecological crisis, mounting environmental legislation, and limited design

progress on this front.

Through the research and development of objects, spaces and

experiences, this three-semester (one-year) programme of postgraduate

study aims to invigorate the culture of critique that empowers design with

the qualities of social, economic and environmental change.

Details of curriculum

The MA Sustainable Design uses an integrated project-based structure,

enabling the three core units and their concerns (Research, Studio andIndustry) to run consecutively throughout the programme. This provides a

fully integrated experience for students in which theoretical, practical and

professional concerns are fused and correlated through each project:

Sustainable Design: Futures (20 credits)

This unit takes the form of a series of seminars and workshops, which collectively

provide students with a comprehensive understanding of contemporary

sustainable design thinking and the state of the discipline.

Sustainable Design: Research (20 credits)

Undertaken within the postgraduate framework of the MA Arts and Cul-tural Studies, students will develop their research skills training, helping de-

vise particular research questions and tactical methodologies for integration

within work.

Sustainable Design: Industry (20 credits)

This unit will focus upon the escalating issues and the increasingly abundant

opportunities that characterize sustainable design, production and consumption

today, and will require students to contextualize their work in this way as a

means to demonstrate industrial viability.

Sustainable Design: Studio (60 credits)

The studio unit provides students with the space and resources to explore,develop and realize sustainable objects, spaces and experiences to a high level

of execution this is where the integration and application of research work

takes place, and is essential to the process of sustainable design.

Sustainable Design: Master (60 credits)

This unit enables students to select the weighting of research, studio and

professional elements to support individual working practices and specialisms,

whilst fully realising self-directed major projects.

FACULTY OF ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

MA SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Subject to validation in February 2009

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Career and progression opportunities

The design industry has been challenged by leading politicians, economists

and ecologists with the task of aiding both the planet and the economy in

uncertain times this programme enables students to take advantage of the

accelerated growth in areas of sustainable design and increasing opportunities

within the design industry to bring innovation and balance to the ecological

and economic growth of the nation through a range of commercial designdisciplines. Students work within a broad range of creative contexts, including

product design, furniture and lighting, interior and architectural practice,

fashion and textiles, media and journalism, legislation and policy development,

conservation and planning.

Location

Situated in the heart of one of Europes most vibrant and creative cities, the

MA Sustainable Design has critical, creative debate at its core. The University

of Brightons School of Architecture and Design, within the Faculty of Arts and

Architecture, has a mature culture of creativity and research in the area of

design particularly, sustainability has become an increasingly prominent issue

within the work of the design-related courses, to the point where in some

programmes the majority of work presented at degree show demonstrates aparticular individual approach to sustainable design issues. Brighton 3D Design

students routinely win awards of national and international significance on the

basis of the sustainable innovation in their work. The MA Sustainable Design is

a carefully focused academic product that offers routes for progression with a

specific emphasis on Sustainability.

The MA Sustainable Design is intrinsically linked with the Inheritable Fu-

tures Laboratory (IF:Lab) sustainable design research group. Founded by Dr

Jonathan Chapman and Nick Gant, the IF:Lab is a sustainable design research

group that generates practice-led and theoretical research initiatives that nur-

ture the interrelationships between academia and industry. This research cul-

ture provides a unique source of constantly refreshed and updated sustainable

design information, knowledge and understanding, and feeds directly into thecontent of the MA Sustainable Design, offering students opportunities to par-

ticipate in industry-leading research projects, while ensuring both the currency

and timeliness of its orientation. In this way, the MA Sustainable Design is

strategically positioned within the critical territory between sustainable design

theory and practice, to fully engage, develop and act upon the escalating is-

sues and the increasingly abundant opportunities that characterise sustainable

design, production and consumption today.

100% Sustainable? - Models of sustainable design

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Entry criteria

Candidates will have a previous degree in a design subject (for example, Prod-

uct, Industrial, Furniture and 3D Design, Fashion and Textile Design, Three Di-

mensional Craft, Graphic Design and Illustration, Interior and Spatial Design) or

equivalent experience in design practice. Applicants must demonstrate a clear

motivation to engage with issues of sustainability and design. Direct access to

semester 3 of the programme will be considered only where applicants have

accrued appropriate number of credits at either M-Level or postgraduate study

in a relevant subject.

At interview students will be expected to demonstrate the following:

an ability to articulate individual perceptions and understandings of sus-

tainable design

an ability to positively engage in critical discussion regarding their work and

its broader implications in relation to sustainability

a body of work that demonstrates experience and competency within the

design processes

ambition to critically appraise and develop their practice within the context

of sustainability

For further information on the MA Sustainable Design, please email:

[email protected]

Braille or audiotape extracts of this document are available on request.

The Faculty of Arts & Architecture at the University of Brighton is the host and lead partner ofthe Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD). Funded by the HigherEducation Funding Council for England (HEFCE), this world class partnership also includes the RoyalCollege of Art, The Royal Institute of British Architects and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Legal terms and conditions: course information may change at any point, the University of Brightonreserves the right to withdraw any course at any time and applicants should always check with theadmissions department to confirm that the course is still available.

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