Welcome to the School of Form

Posted on May 21, 2015

The School of Form is design faculty of The University of Social Science and Humanities, which admitted its first students in October 2011. Regular studies last for 3.5 years, and the graduates receive the SWPS bachelor’s degree in design. Combining elements of education in design and humanities, the unique curriculum was developed by a team of experts guided by Lidewij Edelkoort, long-term head of Design Academy Eindhoven, who is the strategic director and mentor of the School of Form. Thus devised, the design studies curriculum was awarded the highest number of points in a call for proposals announced by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for government-supported courses. First-year students attend six-week courses in each of the four specialisations offered by the School of Form: domestic design, fashion design, communication design, and industrial design. This allows them to understand the specificity of each field, and the discovery of their own predispositions and interests, helping to choose a single final specialisation with the second year of studies already giving a deeper insight into it. In parallel, the students participate in classes in the humanities and social sciences: anthropology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. They learn the rudiments of these disciplines to focus on studying two selected ones in the second year. In the last three semesters of education, students use a selected field of humanities of their choice to develop their diploma project. All classes, including also theoretical ones, are held as open interactive workshops. The students practice experimental and conceptual design, and also means of presenting solutions. Each task includes a project that can just be a simple sketch, a model, a more advanced prototype, or a fully functional object. The students have professionally furnished modern sewing and tailoring equipment, photography and video, metalworking, and carpentry equipment, computers, and ceramic laboratories and workshops at their disposal. The School of Form works with both Polish and world designers, lecturers, and experts working for top brands and businesses operating in various sectors. The classes are led by Oskar Zięta, Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka, Mateusz Halawa, Bartosz Mucha, Paweł Grobelny, Wojciech Dziedzic, Ewa Klekot, Lucas Verweij, Francesca Valan, Julian Roberts, Dawid Wiener, Zuzanna Skalska, Karol Murlak, Bianka Rolando and others. One of the most significant elements in the teaching strategy of the School of Form is practical instruction linked to business, which has already reached the early design stage. Thanks to partnership cooperation with major business partners who give financial support to student development and offer them internships in their companies, students may hold their residencies with Polish and foreign design studios, production companies, and craft workshops, depending on the profile they have chosen.  

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