BUCKINGHAMSHIRE CHILTERNS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Faculty of Design
High Wycombe Campus, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP11 2JZ
Telephone: 01494 522 141 / 01494 603 054 (Admissions)
Fax: 01494 461 196
Email: desenq@bcuc.ac.uk
Website: http://bcuc.ac.uk/design
Course Titles:
BA (Hons) Spatial Design (3 yrs, full time)
Validating Body: Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College
Places: 35
Entry requirements: Applicants will normally have completed: an Art Foundation Course or a BTEC Diploma course or GNVQ Level 3/AVCE and be over 18.
Entry onto the programme is by interview and presentation of portfolio. Applicants may be accepted from sixth form if they show sufficient interest in art and design. We
welcome applications from mature students.
Minimum age: over 18
Closing Date: UCAS route A: W240 - UCAS route B: E240
Dean, Faculty of Design: Peter Slater
Course Leader: Sigrun Birgisdottir
Course Descriptions:
BA (Hons) Spatial Design: Interior Design / Landscape Design / Exhibition Design / Design for Film, TV and Theatre
This programme offers the unique opportunity to explore use and form of space in a diverse range of settings and situations, from the temporality of an event through to the lasting presence of natural and rural landscapes by choice of the four subject specific pathways on offer.
This course reflects the multidisciplinary nature of contemporary design practice where art, architecture and landscape meet to shape spaces, places and experiences.
Course Structure
The course is studio led with an integrated historical and critical studies programme. Projects emphasise the exploration of design through the processes of making and drawing, exploiting the faculty's workshops, computer suites and design studios. Designing is a critical as well as
a creative activity, demanding effective communication of original thinking. The course engages students to acquire the breadth of skills necessary to support innovative design solutions.
In year one, all students learn the broad underlying scope of spatial design. Pathways chosen at the end of the common first year are studied in depth during years two and three.
In year two students develop the conceptual and practical skills specific to their chosen subject. As part of their professional practice studies students may join a professional design practice for work placements.
Students graduate with the pathway named in their award e.g. BA (Hons) Spatial Design: Exhibition Design.
Spatial Design Pathways:
- Interior Design looks at human occupation and habitation of individuals and communities. Interior and Spatial Design explores the re-adaptive use of existing buildings and environments, simultaneously looking at the intimacy of spaces and the events that take place in them and the architectural form and fabric. Projects challenge students to explore and respond innovatively to the changing needs of the 21C.
- Landscape Design studies the design of open space within its environmental context. Students design small to medium scale projects in both the public and private realm, with an emphasis on detail design - from the park bench to the city plan. The broad scope of the course includes studies in sustainable design and contemporary practice, as well as construction and planting design.
- Exhibition Design studies ways of communicating and presenting ideas and artefacts. Students explore the language of visual communication, interaction and spatial design as tools to build a dialogue with the viewer or spectator. Design projects range from the temporary installation through to the permanent exhibition, in venues as diverse as the department store through to major institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum.
- Design for Film, Television and Theatre explores and discovers the world of performance. Students study visual narratives, to give form to the written word through spatial design in entertainment, drama and non-fiction. Design tasks focus on responding to a range of settings and environments varying from the intimacy of a small theatre through to staging events within the city.
Teaching
Our vicinity to London allows our course to be supported by the very best practitioners and teaching staff within our design fields. All members of the studio teaching staff are professional practitioners working in their specialist fields in or near London.
Students receive continuous feedback on their work through frequent constructive interaction between students and course team via one-to-one tutorial guidance, seminars, and project presentations.
Facilities
In addition to a dedicated studio space, students have use of networked computer studios with a good range of CAD software, including Autocad, Vectorworks, 3D Studio Max and Rhino.
The course is established in a large Art and Design faculty in which students benefit from the activities of many different art and design disciplines including excellent facilities for furniture making, glass and ceramics, metalwork and jewellery, textile design, photography, audio visual, animation facility and editing suites.
Study Visits
Study visits to foreign locations and cities form an integral part of broadening outlook and cultural awareness. Recent destinations and sites of design interventions for BCUC-Spatial Design students have been New York, Lisbon, Reykjavik, Seville, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
High Wycombe is ideally placed for visiting London where students have access to a vast array of museums, galleries, commercial venues, exhibitions, libraries, lectures and design practices.
We encourage students to travel further afield and study at a foreign University as part of our Erasmus Exchange programme. Recent exchanges have been with universities in Spain, France and Iceland.
On Graduation
Many students establish working relationships with prospective employers during practice placements in year two and return for employment following graduation. The majority of our graduates begin employment as members of larger design teams in design consultancies and related fields. A number of students choose to further their studies and proceed to Architecture and other post graduate studies.
Students are encouraged to take part in design competitions and exhibitions during their course of studies and build contact with industry through the participation in a range of events and exhibitions like the Victoria and Albert Museum's Style Lounge in 2005 and in designing a restaurant for the Dining Design Exhibition at the Milan Furniture Fair 2004.