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MA in Design & Environment

The MA in Design and Environment addresses the intersection of design and environmental issues from the perspectives of both theory and practice-based study.

Applying
About the department
Design

Download a department booklet [pdf]

Length
1 year full-time or 2 years part-time.
Funding
If you're applying for funding, you may be subject to an application deadline. Find out more about funding opportunities for home/EU applicants, or funding for international applicants.

Fees
See our tuition fees.
Contact the department
Contact Duncan Fairfax
Visit us
Find out about how you can visit Goldsmiths at one of our open days or come on a campus tour.

In distinction to other programmes in the area, the programme undertakes an intensive inquiry into environmental discourses and practices, and maintains that such an inquiry enables creative projects that would not be possible in other contexts.

In this sense, the MA establishes a critical-creative setting in which you can challenge existing theory and practice and explore ways to expand your own research and practice.

The MA is transdisciplinary in focus, and offers you the opportunity to develop a specific design practice or area of research at Masters level in relation to environment topics.

Students may have training in design, arts, architecture and landscape architecture. In addition, the programme offers a thesis pathway option, which may be suitable for applicants with training in cultural and social theory, environmental studies, and geography.

The MA helps you to:

  • develop a systematic understanding of relationships and connections between design and environment, as informed by both theory and practice
  • develop reflective abilities through exploring new practices and discourses in design and environment
  • review methods and processes used in design and environment practice and research
  • research, explore and extend understanding of sustainable practices and their social impact in design and related fields
  • develop new approaches and skills to a high level to inform and develop practical and intellectual domains of professional work.

Depending on their area of focus, graduates from the programme will also develop strong conceptual and critical design skills alongside a broad range of transferable skills in areas such as project management, creative facilitation, research methods, and also a working understanding of contemporary environmental topics in relation to creative practice.

About the Department of Design

 
 
 

 
Video: Click to play
An introduction to the Department of Design at Goldsmiths.

What you study

The MA in Environment and Design is structured around core courses, options courses and a major project.

Core courses

  • Design and Environment
  • Researching Design and Environment

You can also choose from a number of option courses that have been planned in collaboration with other MA programmes within the Department of Design.

Option courses include

  • Design Ecologies
  • Technonatures
  • Materialities
  • Sustainability

The core and option courses allow students to develop understandings and expertise that they can draw together and utilise in their final project.

The final project will enable students to engage in a significant research undertaking in a context of their choosing that will inform understandings of design and environment.

The project can be undertaken as either practice-based research supported by theory or theory-based research supported by inquiries into practice.

Assessment

Assessment is through peer review, tutor appraisal, student self-evaluation and student-tutor consultation. The assessment may be both formal and informal. In discussions through seminars and tutorials, tutors and students will be able to assess learning through process to final outcome. Depending on a student’s focus, the outcomes may consist of essays, design work, portfolios, and formal presentations.

Register your interest

If you register your interest in this programme we will keep you informed about open days and send you relevant further information. If you subsequently decide to apply for this programme you will be able to use the same login details to apply.


Applying and entrance requirements

You can apply directly to Goldsmiths via the website by clicking the ‘apply now’ button on the main programme page.

Before submitting your application you’ll need to have: 

  • Details of your education history, including the dates of all exams/assessments.
  • The email address details of your referee who we can request a reference from, or alternatively an electronic copy of your academic reference.
  • A personal statement. This can either be uploaded as a Word Document or PDF, or completed online.
  • If available, an electronic copy of your educational transcript (this is particularly important if you have studied outside of the UK, but isn’t mandatory).

You'll be able to save your progress at any point and return to your application by logging in using your username/email and password.

Along with your completed application form please include examples of your work: slides (approximately 12), a CD-ROM, or another appropriate representation accessible on generally used software; please include an index which outlines the concerns and ideas in what you have submitted (200-500 words) and a brief description of individual pieces (including scale, materials and collaborators and object performance where relevant). You should also submit a brief written statement (approximately 250 words), outlining your reasons for wishing to undertake this degree.

When to apply

We accept applications from 1 October until 1 March for students wanting to start the following September (late applications may be considered).

We encourage you to complete your application as early as possible, even if you haven't finished your current programme of study. It's very common to be offered a place that is conditional on you achieving a particular qualification. 

If you're applying for funding you may be subject to an application deadline. Find out more about funding opportunities for UK/EU students and international students. 

Late applications will only be considered if there are spaces available.

Selection Process

You will need to present, in portfolio and at interview, evidence of developed critical and creative thinking related to environment topics through creative practice and/or written work. We expect a high standard of achievement in creative practice and/or written work, and competencies in the use of technology used to produce practice-based projects. If you can't attend in person, we will ask you to send a portfolio (slides or photographs or CD-ROMs accessible on generally used software) of your art/design work with written explanations of selected pieces. Copies of essays in English are also required. If possible we also conduct a telephone interview.

Entrance Requirements

You should have a first degree of at least upper second class standard in Design, Architecture, Art, Geography, Sociology, Cultural Studies or a related field.

We also accept a wide range of international equivalent qualifications, which can be found on our country-specific pages. If you'd like more information, please contact the Admissions Office.

English Language

If your first language isn't English, you need to demonstrate a minimum score of 7.0 in IELTS (including 7.0 in the written element) or equivalent to enroll and study on this programme. 

Please check our English Language requirements for more information.

Find out more about applying 

Contact us 

Get in touch via our online form

UK/EU

+44 (0)20 7919 7766
course-info@gold.ac.uk

International (non-EU)

+44 (0)20 7919 7702
international-office@gold.ac.uk

Courses and Structure

Option courses

tbc Design and Environment 30 CATS

This course explores relations between design and environment. How do creative practitioners undertake environmental projects? What are the assumptions about what constitutes environment? What is the prevailing rhetoric about how to do something in the environmental arena? How do the different scale and media of design constitute the environment and scope of environmental effect differently?

In this core course, we consider theory and practice at the intersection of design and environment; we critique and expand on the prevailing environmental discourses and practices; and we propose alternative models for environmental thought and practice.

tbc Researching Design and Environment 30 CATS

This course explores the means through which we know about – and find out about – design and the environment. We examine research paradigms, including what kinds of questions can be explored through observing and engaging in practice, and what questions emerge through empirical, critical and theoretical inquiry.

We explore methodologies; create new research tools; and analyse and present research in new ways for the purposes of specific users and audiences.

Option courses

The MA offers breadth through a number of options (totalling 60 CATS) that have been planned in collaboration with other MA programmes within the department.

These options include:

  • Design Ecologies
  • Technonatures
  • Materialities
  • Sustainability

Final Project

The core and option courses allow students to develop understandings and expertise that they can draw together and utilise in their final project (60 CATS).

The final project will enable students to engage in a significant research undertaking in a context of their choosing that will inform understandings of design and environment.

The project can be undertaken as either practice-based research supported by theory or theory-based research supported by inquiries into practice.

Careers

We produce graduates of consistently high calibre, including many who have become leaders in the creative industries of a number of countries, including China, Japan and Korea. Our students have won numerous awards (including UK Young Designer of the Year and Eco-Designer of the Year) and their shows have attracted positive attention in the media and achieved great acclaim in the design community. A number of graduates are now working in top London design consultancies (Fitch, Thomas Heatherwick Studios, Imagination, Pentagram) and major UK companies (John Lewis Partnership, Eden Project, Harvey Nichols).

Skills

You will develop strong conceptual and critical design skills alongside a broad range of transferable skills in areas such as project management, creative facilitation, research methods, and a working understanding of contemporary environmental topics in relation to creative practice.


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Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7919 7171

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