Det Kongelige Akademi Formlab
The Royal Danish Academy. Formlab. Photo: Nanna Reimers
Interview

What you learn is how to learn


Mathilde Aggebo: ‘Let us rewind a little: yes, I had heard the rumblings and discussed the issue with several people. Then, during an online open-house event for prospective students, a “digital flag” went up with the message “Don’t apply, there are no workshops. This is not a good programme”. Naturally, we took that very seriously, and we had to look into what it was all about.’

I don’t mean to say it’s all down to the pandemic, but it is certainly part of the context.

‘We had just returned after two lengthy Covid lockdowns. It just isn’t possible to do top-level artistic higher education in your own kitchen, but that’s what we did. I don’t mean to say it’s all down to the pandemic, but it is certainly part of the context. Some of our bachelor’s students had been sent home twice, losing access to the workshops, and when they finally did return, they no longer had free access to the workshops round the clock, because there were still restrictions in place. This clearly felt like a lack of access, and they felt they weren’t getting the education experience they dreamed of. It was not satisfactory. On the island of Bornholm, by contrast, infection rates were lower, so over there, the students could be allowed back; Bornholm also didn’t join the protest.’

Have you been able to resolve the situation and expand access to the workshops?

‘Yes, we expanded the hours and offered additional instruction. However, it soon became clear that the problem went deeper than that. I wondered what the student members of the Study Committee were saying – but there weren’t any! I carefully read the students’ very long protest letter from February, which is very articulate but also points in many different directions. They were unfamiliar with the workings of our educational democracy. We are a state-run institution, and what we do is framed by an executive order, the Parliament and the Bologna Declaration. The students’ demands resonated with me, but they related to many different levels of this decision-making structure. So, I tried to draw up a diagram of who decides what and what influence the school holds in the bigger picture.’

We can’t change the fact that the education must be based on science, practice and artistic development – that is our purpose.

‘One of the key points I have been focusing on in my talks with the students is the need to define a common foundation for our work: “If you want influence – mates, friends, dear students – you need to show up. We have a Study Committee where you are entitled to four seats, but you’re not there.” So they joined the Study Committee, the institutråd and the working groups we established to address the workshop issues and modify the bachelor’s programme to make it feel slightly less academic. We developed proposals and worked together, and I learned a lot from that.

We can’t change the fact that the education must be based on science, practice and artistic development – that is our purpose. We cannot simply decide to drop the academic disciplines. We have to teach design history, aesthetics, theory, the whole underlying method of design. Contemporary designers need great workshops skills as well as an academic, analytical approach to their work. We are facing huge challenges in connection with the green transition, so we need to train designers who can create solutions that are so attractive we can’t resist using them.’

The practice aspect is always present in the form of real-life experiences

The green transition is taking us all into unknown territory – is that the main reason why the design discipline has to adapt and become more academic?

‘Yes. To be able to tackle these challenges, designers have to be able to work alongside engineers, economists, legal scholars, a whole range of different disciplines, each with its own method and approach, just as we have ours. Given that, how do we all work together? To develop truly effective and durable solutions, we have to create them with the users. The notion of the lone designer sitting in their studio and coming up with a brilliant idea – that’s rarely how it works today. Still, of course, you have to be a good designer to give shape to the solutions that emerge based on the latest new knowledge.

The strategic design module was the target of a lot of criticism. It used to be more abstract, dealing with unframed strategic design, where the task is to identify the strategic challenge. Now, the task is framed, meaning that the students are presented with a strategic challenge and tasked with finding an answer.

The practice aspect is always present in the form of real-life experiences. One module involves collaboration with public sector institutions, another engages with private companies. The students want to do this, but there were elements that needed adjusting. And again: because they had been studying from home during the pandemic, they had spent more time on theory than normal. One of the modules has now been converted into an immersion course for third-year students that includes more workshop time, because they lacked that. This is followed up by an internship coupled with a special preparatory module.’

I think we have managed to preserve our integrity and still offer the world’s best bachelor’s programme with a good balance between artistic and academic aspects. But we need to continue the fine-tuning

Wouldn’t it in fact be a strange design programme that did not continually seek to improve itself, in keeping with the spirit of the profession?

‘All the years that I’ve been here, we have been implementing radical changes. Ten years ago, we merged with the schools of architecture and conservation to become the Royal Danish Academy with a new disciplinary structure. In 2016, our student intake was reduced by 30 per cent, as were our budgets, so we had to cancel courses. The current ceramics class will be the last in Copenhagen, and we no longer offer textile design as an independent specialty area. We have been making constant adjustments. Throughout, I think we have managed to preserve our integrity and still offer the world’s best bachelor’s programme with a good balance between artistic and academic aspects. But we need to continue the fine-tuning.’

Isn’t there also a generational issue at play, for example with younger generations challenging the traditional career approach?

‘Yes. We are measured on the employment rate of our graduates. And of course, the students want to be able to make a living, get onto the labour market and find a position and a role for themselves. It just isn’t their most immediate priority. A traditional career was never the top priority for designers. Not that our graduates don’t find work, but it takes a little longer than in other professions. They prefer to have the freedom to try things out, maybe taking on a project position or pursuing a more artistic career for a while. That is why we include the internship: to help them develop a network and have experiences with different parts of the profession early in their studies. Some take a break after earning their bachelor’s degree and return to the master’s programme a few years later. As bachelor’s students, they say, “What do we need all those subjects for? We need time to work in depth.” But without these elements they won’t know all the different angles on the profession.’

That is our core deliverable: to train practising designers who master form as well as analytical and academic aspects. They need to know how to do research and validate knowledge. That has to be part of their skill set

Maybe education requires the students to trust that you actually know what’s good for them? And right now, they don’t feel they’re getting what they need?

‘That’s an interesting point. And of course, things have changed, because until 2016, our brief was to teach to the highest international level. Now we have to teach to the highest international level and get our graduates into gainful employment within two years after graduation. That is why we place the internship and new strategic partnerships in the early stage of the programme. Even though we know that no one becomes a good designer without a strong professional foundation. That is our core deliverable: to train practising designers who master form as well as analytical and academic aspects. They need to know how to do research and validate knowledge. That has to be part of their skill set.

Many are interested in different career paths. Some might have a dream about pulling the plug for a while, rely on a barter economy or find a new relationship between economy and society. I think we’re going to see a lot of deeply committed students in the coming years. We’re seeing this more and more, also due to a generation gap, where the young generation feel that they are given poorer conditions than we were: the Study Progress Reform makes delays in graduation impossible, we are leaving them with the climate debt and so forth.

They know they need to find new paths. Scale down needs. Perhaps they are simply very farsighted. They are going to set the agenda for the future, and I feel quite confident knowing that they’ll be the ones to shape design education in the future. They are smart, and they have a well-honed critical sense. That is essential.’

But they will be facing political inertia?

‘Well, educational reforms always happen very, very slowly. Based on our executive order, we develop a curriculum, and changing that will take at least a year, also because the existing one is a commitment we made. We can’t go back on that; it wouldn’t be fair to the students. You have to be able to rely on the curriculum, we can’t simply change it at the drop of a hat. The curriculum is our best plan for training fully fledged designers who combine mastery of form with in-depth workshop experience and who are able to translate this skill set into good design proposals.

As it is with life itself, according to Kierkegaard, education, too, is understood backwards – in hindsight. The graduation class have returned from their internships and have produced great internship reports, where things are beginning to come together. But, yes, some of the students were questioning their trust in us. “Are we on the right path?” They did not feel their portfolios were good enough for the next stage after graduation, because some of the courses had not provided sufficient opportunities for hands-on work.’

I dream of helping to move designers further up the value chain on the labour market

So in fact, the rebellion is motivated by ambition and idealism?

‘Yes, professional ambition – and hats off to that. We have very active students, and criticism was their way of expressing a need. They want to influence their education, and they can. However, we had moved too far apart, and we have been trying to remedy that.
I dream of helping to move designers further up the value chain on the labour market. The goal is not just to bring more designers into the workplace, we also need to see them on company boards. The higher up the value chain, the greater the positive impact on the bottom line. Operating at the strategic level is much more effective.’

High-profile designers set the agenda, and we need them. However, we also need designers working in companies

‘Without designers, we won’t be able to achieve the green transition. We take design for granted in Denmark, because it is such a ubiquitous aspect of society. We attend well-designed day care centres and schools from childhood. Society is permeated by a sense of quality. However, we need a cultural change in the profession; we need to move away from the dream of becoming a star designer with a trendy label towards an interdisciplinary approach that tackles big, essential issues. We have great star designers in Denmark, some of them trained here. High-profile designers set the agenda, and we need them. However, we also need designers working in companies.

That is also why we aim for very broad enrolment. Quota 2 requires high design qualifications, and Quota 1 requires high average marks. But actually, Quota 2 is more exclusive. In order to qualify, many first attend a preparatory programme, but how are they supposed to find their way into a preparatory school or programme unless they know someone who can guide them?’

In other words, what you learn is how to learn, and after graduation you need to stay updated and take part in professional debates in order to keep up with new developments

‘The most equitable intake approach is really to base acceptance on average marks. Secondary education programmes take their students by the hand and offer guidance. And we are really happy to welcome the students who have a lifelong passion for sewing, for example – we’ll train them, no problem. On the other hand: someone who has good average marks is probably a good student. Education is also bildung, it’s both culture and knowledge, and by the time the students we enrol today are ready to graduate, parts of the labour market will have changed. In other words, what you learn is how to learn, and after graduation you need to stay updated and take part in professional debates in order to keep up with new developments.’

Isn’t another problem for the profession that few people actually know what a designer does?

‘Everything we do ultimately comes out as form. There is nothing more magical than seeing your designs in use, seeing them become a part of life and perform as intended. That is the artistic element, because what we do is applied art. The whole process is artistic – the experimental mindset, the hands-on engagement with the materials. Experimentation is our method and a critical reflective practice.

The students often ask, “What is the artistic method?” It is about entering a field where the answer is not pre-determined but is informed by the process. We also use experiments, just as research does. In that regard, design is very concrete, and that is what’s so magical about it. You have absolute freedom, it’s an open space. However, your products have to relate to the environment, to people, to function.’

Design is always a collective process, isn’t it?

‘From the beginning, we form small groups where the students critique each other’s projects. This is the didactic and educational method at the school, and some students find it quite challenging to have multiple rounds of critique and reviews over a project period of a couple of months. They need to be able to discuss and notice what sort of critique the others are getting and what they each need to do different.
However, all that was cancelled during the pandemic. I sympathize with the students and their hunger to return to their study environment and, not least, the workshops. Personally, I was just so relieved to be back, last winter – but they were getting impatient.’

Facts

The Royal Danish Academy belong under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science and offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in design.

The Royal Danish Academy – Design offers specialized training in visual design and interaction or in product design with a focus on either furniture design, spatial design and materials or clothing design and textile.

https://kglakademi.dk/designuddannelsen

 

Theme: Student rebellion

Formkraft gives the floor to both students and institutions and examines contemporary educational opportunities for craft artists and designers.

Follow along from November 2022 – January 2023 when Formkraft takes stock of the design education in Denmark. Read here

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