BE OPEN on Design Thinking: Foundation of Success or Fraud? 8 June 2021 For a last few years, Design Thinking has been a buzzword in the world of design. Since design itself is no longer just for physical objects, Design Thinking is being applied to abstract entities, such as systems and services, as well as to devise strategies, manage change and solve complex… Read more →
BE OPEN: Fusionist, the Corporate Designer of the Future 25 May 2021 As the boundaries of “design” in the 21st century grow to be less certain, there is going to be a considerable demand for strategic design managers delivering solutions to new or complex problems, driving growth and solving issues. According to Neal Stone, visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art… Read more →
BE OPEN: Design Jobs of the Future 15 May 2021 When facing a choice between numerous career opportunities and university courses, most prospective design students will have to reflect on how their future job might evolve by the time they enter the workplace. With technology, emerging global economies and fast-growth industries reshaping employment as we knew it, regional and world… Read more →
BE OPEN: Future of Design Education pt2 25 April 2021 According to Ketterman, who took the academy path himself, even if you try to participate in forums or start your own study group, these programs are mostly made up of adults switching careers who do not prioritize extra socializing with fellow students. The bootcamp approach most design academies employ does… Read more →
BE OPEN: Future of Design Education 15 April 2021 Traditional design education, as we know it, has remained consistent for centuries. Taking roots from an ages-old master-and-apprentice arrangement, it has seen a change in educational environments but not its essence: an experienced instructor challenges students with exercises that unveil the basics of the chosen discipline. Today, speaking of the… Read more →
BE OPEN: Education as a way to develop people’s natural talents and abilities 21 March 2021 Ken Robinson, an international consultant on education and professor emeritus at the University of Warwick, presents his take on the distinction between learning, education and school in his piece "Standardisation broke education. Here's how we can fix our schools" published by the Wired earlier this year. "The movement towards personalisation… Read more →
BE OPEN: Personalized learning – what is behind the trend? 12 March 2021 For decades, formal education has been focused on comparatively narrow forms of academic ability, which results in disregarding the diversity of human talents and interests. Modern educators see a solution in personalization, a teaching and learning process that addresses the strengths and needs of individual learners. Sir Ken Robinson, the… Read more →
BE OPEN: Degree or no degree? 22 February 2021 There’s been much talk lately about whether or not a practicing designer needs formal education. So is formal design education a must or a derelict? Are the existing formal design courses up-to-date and is it at all possible to keep pace with the rapidly developing trends? Are there any alternatives… Read more →
BE OPEN: Is there a gap between architecture education and career? 8 February 2021 Talks and disputes about the quality of modern architecture education have been going on for a couple of years already. A large section of the profession thinks that educators are failing at our sole task: to train students for practice. Patrik Schumacher, Zaha Hadid Architects principal and a guest professor… Read more →
BE OPEN: Fashion Education: Fight for Inclusivity and Diversion 23 January 2021 For many years, fashion, perhaps more than any other creative sphere, has been biased with narrow ideas of who should be included in the industry. Even today, the industry has a lot of work to do when it comes to inclusivity and diversity — race, gender, body size, or disability.… Read more →
BE OPEN: Preparing for the Business of Art 14 January 2021 If you make up your mind to study a creative subject at a university, you will most probably get your share of family members arguing that this kind of a degree will not secure you a job that comes with a decent wage. Despite the work of Sir Ken Robinson… Read more →
BE OPEN: Rewriting Art History 21 December 2020 Cultural norms these days are changing quicker than some of us could keep up with. Even the study of such a seemingly stable discipline as art history has turned out to be controversial. Back in January, Yale University announced it would eliminate its popular survey course “Introduction to Art History:… Read more →
BE OPEN: Distracted from Distractions: Is Fighting Distractions in the Classroom Always a Losing Battle? 8 December 2020 Educators would like to believe that their classroom is a place for students to put away their usual routines and mundane thoughts and settle into the joy of learning. The sad-but-true reality, however, is students being carried away from the educational content with distractions of all kinds. With modern life… Read more →- BE OPEN: The University of the Future, Part 2 9 November 2020 The new reality is that this year with the pandemic serving as a catalyst for many processes in higher education has forced the sector’s leaders acknowledge - the traditional analog on-campus degree-focused learning model is seriously challenged. However, the future of higher education goes far beyond following the major general… Read more →
- BE OPEN: The University of the Future 2 November 2020 Across the world, coronavirus has fundamentally changed the student experience. It has also raised a number of questions concerning what universities should offer and to whom. It is obvious that COVID-19 will leave a lasting imprint on the higher education that won’t “go back to normal” as we knew it,… Read more →
BE OPEN: Teaching Performing Arts Online 26 October 2020 As universities everywhere partially open up their doors this autumn, they have to cope with many issues of the coming academic year, trying to reinvent the education process in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent restrictions. Many creative hands-on courses are struggling to come up with safe ways… Read more →
BE OPEN: Art Schools Embracing Technology 13 October 2020 Last year, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools, The Royal College of Art in London, announced plans to expand its curriculum in order to transform the accepted paradigm of an art and design university, by injecting key scientific disciplines into the mix of creative courses traditionally on offer. RCA’s new… Read more →
BE OPEN: Diversity in Architectural Education: Building Architecture of Tomorrow 21 September 2020 According to Sumita Singha, a practicing architect and academic who has worked in India, France, Spain and the UK, strangely enough, diversity and equality are ‘taboo’ words in architectural education. Considered to be liberal and creative, way above what is considered ‘political correctness’, most architects do not see the elephant… Read more →
BE OPEN: ‘Architecture is Not for You’: Elitism in Architectural Education 14 September 2020 Not long ago, writer and director of the Open City charity organization Phineas Harper wrote in his Twitter that the architecture profession has to face up to the fact that it has grown to be “more elitist than the most elite university in the world.” The assumption is not at… Read more →
BEOPEN: In Pursuit of Excellence: Critique in Design Education. Pt 2 31 July 2020 Another form of design critique used in studio format learning is intermediate group critiques that are similar in form to final reviews or "juries", yet are much more generative and positive, possessing the same coaching functions as individual critiques. Unlike juries, group crits are focused on advancing the work of… Read more →
