Bachelor Studios: call for proposals

Founded in 1947, Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) is recognised internationally as a one of the most innovative platforms for learning in the field of design. For over 70 years it has trained aspiring designers to make their mark on the future by thinking freely and openly about what design can achieve, consistently exploring design as an instrument of material, social, environmental and critical innovation. Today it is home to a community of many nationalities and cultures, offering an environment where personal perspectives on the world can be translated into meaningful and daring propositions. They are guided in this by a team of professional designers, architects, researchers, writers and curators, all active within the academy as well as in the professional field.

DAE is a University of the Arts, offering both BA and MA degrees, specialised in training students in different design perspectives in order to produce critical and socially engaged designers. In conjunction with the educational programmes, DAE has international Readerships focused on collaborative research projects. The commonality at DAE is the shared political values of an inclusive society that embraces diversity in every aspect. In addition, the hybrid, conceptual, contextual and international approach to design makes DAE’s programmes distinctive.

Working at DAE
The Academy’s community is its heart. From Studio Leaders to tutors, coordinators to workshop instructors, caretakers to catering team, students and staff, each individual plays an important part in shaping DAE.

With this in mind, the Academy aims to create a progressive environment for all of its employees, offering opportunities for both personal and professional development within a stimulating and safe working environment. The school’s personnel policy also places a strong emphasis on identifying and supporting talent and creating a healthy and engaging social atmosphere.

Bachelor Studios
As we build our excellence on the diversity of our staff and student community, we pay continual attention to diversity and inclusion and provide a safe learning and working environment in a broader sense. We foster equality and inclusion, and promote respect and a sense of belonging for all. We therefore encourage proposals from all sections of society.

A Bachelor’s degree at Design Academy Eindhoven is a four-year programme that offers students the opportunity to develop their own answers to these fundamental questions. We live in a designed world, surrounded by objects, systems and processes that have been created by humans. Designers have the power to affect change through their work, influencing everyday life and shaping behaviours from the micro to the macro level. Bachelor students at DAE are provided with space, support and guidance to explore their relationship with design, as well as its potential as a tool for positive action in a world that is in constant flux. DAE nurtures independent thinking and encourages students to engage deeply with themselves and with their environment, to be curious and to question their assumptions, and to interrogate systems of power, of knowledge and of production.

In 2020, the school overhauled its educational structure, reshaping the BA department to better respond to the needs of its students and the increasing pace of change in the wider world. This included the introduction of a new structure with studio’s, each reflecting a different perspective and position but united in a belief in design as an agent for positive change and a desire to contribute to creating a better future. Students can switch between different studios during their studies, providing new opportunities for exploration, experimentation and research as their interests change. The schools’ workshops play a key part in the BA programme.

Open call
Due to the overhaul of our BA department, we are pleased to announce that we are inviting applications for future Bachelors Studios, led by Studios function within a half-year programme structure, offering new programmes each semester. Studio leaders will generally be engaged for a duration of approximately 4 years (8 cycles). More information on the current Bachelors studios and studio leaders can be found here.

Position
Design Academy Eindhoven prides itself in a tradition of bold innovation in the field of design and making, and many of its graduates have gone on to redefine the practice of design in distinctive ways. We are particularly interested in receiving proposals that engage with the following themes:

–New forms of making, particularly involving digital fabrication and generative design
–Design as a form of engagement with political practice and social justice
–Contemporary material practices and new understandings of matter and ecosystems
–Diversity in design
–Information and communication design, with particular focus on design for new digital platforms

DAE sees this open call as an opportunity both to extend its network and to examine and revisit its teaching agenda, particularly in the light of a need for greater diversity and representation among its academic staff. We are therefore eager to receive ideas and proposals from practitioners who will bring the Academy new and diverse perspectives on teaching and practice.

Procedure
Please feel free to send in your ideas and proposals to proposals [​at​] designacademy.nl. Due to the nature of this open call, we work with an adjusted application procedure. We will send an automatic reply out of the proposals [​at​] designacademy.nl mailbox, stating: “Thank you for your sending in your proposal for Design Academy Eindhoven. We will handle the proposals the upcoming months and will get in touch with you if we feel there are any starting points for a introduction meeting.”

If we do not proceed with your proposal, we will contact you whenever we see any opportunities to collaborate as we have to ambition to broaden our network. Please feel free to follow the developments within the Design Academy Eindhoven on our website or on Instagram.

Kind regards,
Design Academy Eindhoven
Executive Board