reading all these threads prompt me to ask this question :
if you were given a chance to design your own Industrial design school,
what would you do ? What kind of atmosphere would you cultivate, what kind of buildings would you have ?.. etc
http://www.flholocaustmuseum.org/history_wing/assets/room2/bauhaus02.jpg
Something like:
1 simple building building, max 100 students in the entire school.
Professionals who are instructors, no tenured full time professors.
Freshman foundation of intensive art courses, art and architectural history, figure drawing, painting, sculpture, 2d and 3d design form color and surface theory.
Sophomore and Junior years packed with courses in design history, design philosophy and methodology, ergonomics, trend research, manufacturing techniques, critical thinking, business 101 (writing briefs and proposals, billing, market research, writing a business plan) a survey course in modern philosophy. Lots of skills courses in thinking on paper, rendering, model making, presentation skills, portfolio development, professional etiquette. Basic product design studios, simple product projects.
Senior year all industry sponsored studios
Optional 5th thesis year.
Required internships throughout.
A school where the students can fire their instructors/dean.
with the exception of the “simple building” and “professionals who are instructors” Yo just described the design program at the University of Cincinnati. Dead on.
thanks for the input ! 
got a couple of questions though.
i can see why 100 students in the building for, but does that mean just one building of the college ? How about other faculties ?
I think one of the most important aspects of training a fine designer is to be able to communicate with one another. Also by being able to communicate with different people, you learn more. Mixing around also humbles a person more too. Since you won’t be so engrossed in seeing what you and your peers can achieve without seeing how other, no matter how big or small, could help you in achieving the most useful product.
about tenured profs: if a person is truely talented and dedicated, wouldn’t it be the college’s advantage to hold on to the person by giving tenureship ?
i agree with yo on the course structure and internships. They are very important. It puts students into the working world and force them to think practically with the knowledge they have.
i see design education an excellent route to learning about life along with how to be entreprenuaral.
i’d wish schools would allow students to lodge complaints and are heard through properly in the student’s interest of learning. However, firing the instructor / dean directly from the students is not the way to go. There is always a proper system of doing that. Otherwise a bad student could fire the wrong instructor/ prof/dean off.
We must be aware that there are bad students as well as bad teachers.
heya ! you make this college sounds so good !!
just seen the masters course, but it doesn’t sound as good as the basic degree. any comments ?
I think one of the most important aspects of training a fine designer is to be able to communicate with one another. Also by being able to communicate with different people, you learn more. Mixing around also humbles a person more too. Since you won’t be so engrossed in seeing what you and your peers can achieve without seeing how other, no matter how big or small, could help you in achieving the most useful product. [/quote]
My ultimate school would be a pure design school, if you want other stuff, or to mix with other people, get a liberal arts degree before or after. Again, this is MY ultimate school, so not for everyone. The 100 student cap (total students) ensures a quality peer group.
I do not agree with that at all. I think the best thing is to keep fresh ideas coming into the school by means of the most talented visiting instructors possible. Heads of departments would have to be permanent to keep a structured environment, but other than that, get the best you can for the semester. Maybe offer practicing designers a semester long residency in which the school coordinates a paid sabbatical from their job.
This is why our “Ultimate Schools” are different I guess. I see design education as an excellent way to teach you the bare foundation of design. Life is learned in the world with real consequences and flub ups… not in the artificial safety of an academic bubble.
physically: I’d take SCI_Arc or the San Francisco ‘campus’ of California College of the Arts as my model. Contained and defined, but lots of space to experiment with and in, room for impromptu exhibits, a bit disorganized, space for all the cool tools designers love to play with.
programatically, I’d like to try a structure that inserts a year of work in the middle- say a five year program with the third or fourth year being full time work in the field. A solid foundation program is a must.
I hear you guys about colleges trying harder to listen to students about their instructors. I don’t think directly having students able to fire professors is the solution. Most schools do some sort of a course/instructor review each semester, right? Maybe instituting some sort of minimum average score in that, or simply taking a harder look at the student comments and working to address the shortcomings. In my experience, students are pretty clear when a teacher just isn’t up to par, and schools hesitant to take action complaints that don’t have a specific incident behind them.
I also think this way. Firing a prof is not the way to go. I think it will be a mess. I can see yo’s point of view that tenureship is not the solution. He has his point and it is convincing. If you are up to the mark you will produce good work to keep you on. One down point here is that the college may need to put up with higher salaries and benefits. You may well loose the prof to other wealthier colleges. Surely there are people who do not work for money and benefits, but I think tenureship also recognises a person’s hard work and loyalty too.
what needs to be added is the nature of tenureship. May sound weird. Maybe we need to change the word tenure to something else. But there must be a way to kick out profs who think they have reached the pinacle and abuse their powers by getting lazy or complacent. It does no good in educating future designers.