4-YEAR UG Professional Program
Public Space Design
Course Overview
The course offers tools to think, design and research the three-dimensional realm, which humans and other living species inhabit. Public spaces, whether interior or exterior, are places of collective experiences. The B Des in Public Space Design at SMI distinctively approaches spatial design through lenses of equity, inclusivity, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and socio-political and socio-technical amalgamations. Great spatial design opportunities exist in planned, unplanned, temporary and permanent spaces across diverse scales ranging from chai points to cafes, neighbourhood shops to retail hubs, every day meeting spaces to community centres; bus stops to places of mass transit, reading rooms to public libraries, from healthcare spaces to hospitality spaces, creative set designs to exhibition spaces to mention a few. The course equips the students to conceptualise, design, and help execute such spaces in urban and rural areas through studio-based learning. Spatial Design also encompasses design for accessibility, safety, community, cultural and artistic interventions, versatility and sustainability.
Inclusivity and interdisciplinary learning are core ideologies of the Public Space Design program. This Spatial Design Program is one of a kind in India, as it offers interdisciplinary, choice-based courses through the four-year program at an undergraduate level, allowing for student-centric learning and creative, radical choices of courses that a student can take each year to make a unique portfolio of work. B. Des in Public Space Design program equips aspiring spatial design practitioners to work with diverse practices, including that of artists, architects, planners, researchers, interior designers, product designers, governmental and government-allied consultancy, and community place makers. Above all, the Public Space Design Program allows for critical thinking of spatiality while enriching the students with skills that keep them ahead of the curve.
Vision
The program’s vision is to create sensitive, informed professionals of Spatial Design who create living environments that are equitable and inclusive while emphasizing cultural, artistic, and social awareness.
LEVEL
Undergraduate Degree
AWARD
Bachelors of Design (B.Des)
DURATION
4 Years / Full-time
Core Values
Core Values:
- Empathy and passion for social inclusion and equity
- Contextual awareness and sensitivity towards community and culture
- Ecological consciousness and responsibility towards the environment
Course Structure
Course Structure:
The course comprises of foundation courses, studio based making and learning, critical reading and writing, internships, electives and project-based semesters.
- Foundation introduces students to basic principles and tools of Art, Design and Technology as methods, tools and processes.
- Disciplinary Studios are learning spaces where students develop core disciplinary capabilities, while navigating a trans-disciplinary environment
- General Studies is a common and compulsory programme of study that integrates Humanities, Sciences, Maths, business and finance. Development and Policy Studies and also offers Languages (Spanish, French and German)
- Interim is an immersive introduction to practice in new and emerging areas of art and design and environmental exposure
- Electives are of three kinds – this program allows students to expand their skills, develop the interests as well as provide opportunities for travel exchange
- Internship/Apprenticeship is compulsory work experience done over the summer-break between the 6th and 7th semester
- Project based learning involves the application and synthesis of capabilities acquired. Two projects, pre-thesis and thesis, is culmination of the 4-year undergraduate program, which allows for demonstration of an integration of values, positions, capabilities and practice.
Learning Approach
Learning Approach:
The core values are experienced through a range of interdisciplinary learning approaches:
- Driven by Enquiry through generative themes that are rooted around historical, socio-cultural and political contexts
- Studio Based Learning is encouraged, where students work in teams.
- Theoretical and Critical approach to expand the idea of art and design practice
- Hands-on approach to making for developing self-expression,
- Research and collaborations as ways to widen thought and dimensions of practice.
- Field based enquiry making the real-world into a classroom
- Participatory approach through direct engagement with communities of various practitioners
- Participatory Approach & Fieldwork
The students will learn through a studio-based pedagogy, with an emphasis on ‘making’, exercises on one hand and analytical courses on critical reading and writing on the other. They will learn various spatial thinking skills, practical design tools, and communication skills. Hands-on learning opportunities such as digital making and physical modelling will be encouraged. The students will be exposed to practical training as internships or apprenticeships with industry practices. The students will also handle larger holistic projects in their final semester through project-based thesis. Since the course is heavily invested in interdisciplinary learning, the students will have various choice-based courses that they can take to make an eclectic portfolio of work and explore their other creative interests. Students have taken disciplinary studio courses on spatial design in combination with furniture making, pottery, creative writing, mapping, climate change and environmental exposure courses.
Capabilities
Capability Set:
Upon successful completion of this course graduates will have developed the following capabilities:
- To effectively design, visualize, communicate and represent spatial design concepts and ideas to a larger audience.
- Iterating to translate a line of thinking into a desired form by drawing from one’s exposure to various practices, and to hone skill by repetitive use of certain tools.
- To collaborate & co-design with communities to understand and design for their needs and well-being.
- To work in professional environments with integrity and competence.
- To understand, explore and creatively work with materials, services, and systems.
- To understand complexities of multifaceted contexts and develop an integrated and comprehensive approach to design.
- To be able to think critically through reflection and identify patterns to develop one’s practice independently.
FAQs
Public Space Design is a discipline focused on designing spaces that are used by various living beings and come in various forms, including those used for recreation, knowledge, care, commerce, temporal and pop-up events, and public infrastructure and amenities. It combines spatial design with various contextual factors to create equitable, inclusive, just, and resilient spaces.
This course is designed for individuals who possess strong collaborative skills, as well as critical and analytical thinking abilities. Students from all academic backgrounds who are interested in community and culture, spaces and places, living systems, and sustainable placemaking are welcome to apply.
Professional Practice:
With Public Space Design as a major and allied minor & electives, Srishti Manipal equips and prepares the graduates to be contemporary design practitioners, entrepreneurs, and design consultants for a wide range of career opportunities:
- Spatial design fields such as architecture & interior design,
- Urban design
- Heritage conservation & management
- Landscape design
- Place-making Initiatives
- Public policymaking
- Development sector opportunities with government and government-allied agencies, consultancy and advocacy firms working in the urban or rural sector such as street (re)design, public space (re)design, design of public and public transit facilities, etc.
- Set designs
- Exhibition Curation and museum designs (Scenography)
- Furniture design
- Community consultation, user experience & design research
- Art activism & public art
- Spatial illustration & documentation
- Spatial & architectural journalism
Academic & Research Practice:
Public space design graduates from Srishti Manipal can peruse research opportunities as research assistants or independent researchers in leading research organizations working in diverse domains suggested above. Graduates interested in inquiry-based design research also have great opportunities to get involved with multiple centers and labs within Srishti Manipal. Additionally, graduates also develop expertise and eligibility for pursuing master’s opportunities offered at Srishti Manipal as well as at other national & international universities of repute.