Wijnhaven 61
Rotterdam
the Netherlands
Deadline: March 6, 2020
Apply here
The Piet Zwart Institute houses the international Master programs of the Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. Named after the pioneering Dutch designer, Piet Zwart, who worked experimentally across media and contexts, the Institute offers a rich combination of in-depth specialization and interdisciplinary exchange within an intimate learning environment.
MIARD is a small-scale international Master program that works from a point of view that education is adaptable to a variety of external forces. As professional practice continues to expand, we train practitioners for a career in a changing world. Interior Architects today are faced with new realties, technologies and socio-political, environmental and economic challenges; consequently, the practice of the designer needs to expand, react and determine future roles. For this reason, we question the conventions of Interior Architecture across disciplinary edges in order to create new perspectives. Design as research is viewed as multidimensional, circulating along numerous pathways and scales, from the local to the global, from objects to architecture and beyond. Students are expected to be independent and forward thinking. Our multidisciplinary and proactive approach to design education creates a sense of openness, possibility and intellectual rigor.
The program is built around a self-directed, multi-discipline practitioner. Students develop their practice while synchronizing design-led research with critically reflective, theoretical and historical discourse. The curriculum is multi-disciplinary, designed with international staff and students from diverse backgrounds who share and combine their expertise and resources. It is designed as a holistic system with corresponding modules: Design Projects, Critical Strategies, Multiple Media. Together the modules shape thematic spaces of design-led research throughout the two-year program. To further enrich a student’s professional experience and network, the program emphasizes the concept of making public. We actively exhibit and promote student work, participate in professional events and foster external collaborations with renowned institutions.
Digital Archive: Visit our online archive to learn more about the program and the projects—including the awards, publications, exhibitions, scholarships, and international collaborations of our students and alumni.
Staff 2019-20: Alex Augusto Suárez (course director, architect, educator), Golnar Abbasi (artist, architect, researcher), Andrea Bagnato (architect, editor), Cookies, Federico Martelli & Clément Périssé (architects, designers, researchers), Daphne Heemskerk (graphic designer), Ephraim Joris (architect, tutor), Natasha Marie Llorens (curator, writer), Studio Ossidiana, Alessandra Covini & Giovanni Bellotti (architects, designers, researchers), Olivier Otten (interaction designer).
Recent Guests, Speakers & Studio Visits: Alessandro Bava, Space Popular, Aristide Antonas, Random Studio, Michiel van Iersel, Cooking Sections, Nick Axel, Shumi Bose, Ayna Kirschner, Studio Folder, Anna Puigjaner, Erik Rietveld, Bikvanderpol, Noman Studio, Kirsten Algera, Marina Otero Verzier, Hilary Sample, Lois Weinthal, Aslı Çiçek, Koehorst in t’veld, Gabriel Lester, Chris Kabel, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Tamar Shafrir, Bastiaan de Nennie, Riet Eeckhout, Simone C. Niquille, Tijs Gilde, Laura Herman, Random Studio, Niels Schrader, Tomas Saraceno, Point Supreme, Suzie Attiwill, Kuehn Malvezzi, Brenden Cromier, Envisions, Sander Wassink, OS&OOS, Bastiaan de Nennie, Parasite 2.0, Penny Sparks, Michael Schoner, Thomas Vailly, Koen Deprez, Florian Cramer, Studio Truly Truly.
