AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.12.2003, Page 26

Design Education at the
Industrial College,
Reykjavík
Elísabet V. Ingvarsdóttir and Baldur J. Baldursson,
Interior Designers, FHI and Department Directors in
general design in the Art Department of the Industrial
College in Reykjavík.
The Industrial College in Reykjavík,
I.R., has offered a course in Design
at an advanced level during the last
10 years. Although the main goal of
this education has been to prepare
its students for further education at
university level this course is also
useful general education and founda-
tion and connection for very different
fields. Design is a discipline but also
a field of interest that can provide
increased fulfilment in lífe.
As there was no acknowledged cur-
riculum at the beginning for this edu-
cation from the Ministry of Education
the course was organized according
to traditional ideas about design edu-
cation and started as an experiment.
Today the course is planned accord-
ing to the curriculum for secondary
schools. The Ministry of Education,
published for the first time in 1999, a
main curriculum for further education
in the arts in advanced schools,
where a new plan for art and
design education at university level
formed part of the picture. According
to the curriculum for secondary
schools, six elective courses are
included in the Art Education Field.
The elective courses are general
design, craft design, multi-media
design, fine art, dance and music.
The Art Education Field is a kind of
an umbrella over the elective courses
but the elective courses offer a spe-
cialisation in art, design or crafts. In
the Industrial College in Reykjavík,
design has been taught according to
the main curriculum from the Autumn
of 2002.
Design in the Art Education
Field
With the main curriculum, the design
education of I.R. obtained clearer
goals and acknowledgement within
the education system. The position
of students improved considerably,
as comparable core courses are
taught in other secondary schools
offering education in elective fields of
art and design. The design course at
I.R. is now called, according to the
curriculum of further education,
General Design in the Art Educatíon
Field, although the name design
course is used in daily talk. The edu-
cation in the elective course, general
design, is a three-year preparatory
study resulting in a qualification from
the Art Education Field. The students
can matriculate if they continue their
general studies. Students who have
already matriculated or finished voca-
tional training of a similar nature can
study general design in the „fast
lane“ and finish their studies in half
the time.
There are more Art Education fields
in more colleges of continuing edu-
cation, but the elective course
General Design is only available at
the Industrial College in Reykjavík.
The Industrial College in
Flafnarfjörður (I.H.), for example,
offers their own course in crafts and
design. Borgarholts-skóli has an
elective course in multi-media
design; the Junior College in
Garðabæ offers a course in crafts
design with an emphasis on clothes
and textiles and fine art; and at the
Junior College in Breiðholt, there is a
course in fine art. As the course
names indicate, the emphasis differs
while the core classes remain the
same. In General Design at the I.R.,
the main emphasis has been on
working with ideas and experiments
with form and colours, and finished
projects by drawings and models.
The students have often had difficul-
ties in choosing between the different
design courses, especially between
I.R. and I.H., who offer similar cours-
es but with greater emphasis on
vocational training in I.H. This differ-
ence has its benefits for the students
because the same methods are not
suited for all and students are able to
choose.
General Design in I.R.
General design in the Art Course of
I.R. has the following objective:
- to provide a good foundation for
further studies in design.
- to support practical projects and
creative activities.
- to be a good addition to vocational
studies.
- to develop creative intelligence,
reinforce self esteem and increase
cultural understanding.
The course also serves the purpose
of introducing to students other and
more varied approaches to problems
than are usual in traditional studies
„from the book,“ and to give stu-
dents the opportunity to find their
abilities in this connection.
The basic courses in General Design
at I.R. are taught in connection with
design methodology, design and
work-cultural history, drawing, form
and colour science, computer
design, model making, material sci-
ence, and written subjects. The
design process is explained in dis-
tinct stages, and students can
choose study groups with different
subjects that emphasise introducing
the four main spheres of design. 3D-
spatial design prepares students for
such professions as architecture,
interior design, landscape design and
set design. Communication design is
taught as a foundation for graphic,
print and monitor-communication
design. Students also learn 3D-form
design as a preparation for product
and industrial design and lastly, fash-
ion design as preparation for clothes,
fashion, textile and dress design. The
emphasis in Design education at I.R.
has from its beginning been on
design as a field for ideas about
function, appearance and produc-
tion. Design is different from crafts
and art, and the designer usually
does not make the product directly
or works with free artistic expression
and creation.
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