Rotterdam
the Netherlands
The Piet Zwart Institute houses the international Master programs of the Willem de Kooning Academy: Fine Art, Interior Architecture: Research + Design, Media Design (Lens-based Media or Experimental Publishing), and Education in Art. All four are dedicated to promoting study and research in art, design, and art education, and share an interest in the complex social, cultural and political contexts of their respective fields.
The Piet Zwart Institute is located in the heart of Rotterdam’s city centre. While students and faculty come from across the globe, bringing with them a variety of cultural influences, the programs cultivate strong connections to the city, its history and urban environment.
Through uniquely tailored curricula combining collective learning, individual tutorials, practice-based research and theoretical enquiry, our programs educate professionals toward critically reflective, innovative, questioning and imaginative approaches to their work. Our graduates establish themselves in their fields, but also challenge and creatively define the parameters of their fields.
The notion of ‘making public’ through exhibitions, programming, conferences and publications is key, and serves as a means of sharing and testing the research and practice fostered at the Piet Zwart Institute.