Programme Structure

What will you learn?

The structure of this MA Programme aims to provide the students with the opportunity to explore and advance knowledge relevant to the specialist concepts and techniques of their practice.
The programme is divided into four key parts:

Part 1: Design

This part aims to enable the students to position, develop and debate their ideas and work within a critical context in the area of design management. Through development of critical thinking and reflection of their own ideas, the students obtain experience and expertise in the following areas:

• Design techniques and methodologies
• Creative problem solving within complex environments
• Critical evaluation and ability to challenge generally accepted assumptions
• Development of working methods as appropriate for realisation of ambitious work
• Highly experimental design approaches
• Development of self-awareness of a critical context of ideas and artists as appropriate for each pathway

Part 2: Business and management concepts

This part aims to provide students with an overview of the contemporary business concepts and principles that employers are seeking. In particular, it aims to discuss the concept of innovation in relation to leadership, how it can be cultivated and managed within the context of design. Areas that are covered in this part include:

• Leadership and Management issues including an introduction to planning and budgeting
• Project Management: the characteristics and importance of Project Management are explained so that the students can understand the differences between day-to-day management and project management
• Design Strategy: the link between innovation, creativity and design are discussed via various case studies tailored according to each pathway
• Brand Management: Students obtain understanding of the basics of how the innovation concept can be developed into a well-executed brand, through understanding of customer needs and expectations
• This part also gives the students the opportunity to work in small teams on a real life project. They are assigned a company or organisation and a business/ innovation issue related to the city of Barcelona to work on in order to make a proposal or recommendation incorporating all the relevant design and management issues.

Part 3: Research skills

The Research Skills part aims to help students to improve their own research ideas and enable them to develop methods to put their ideas into practice. This part provides students with the opportunity to gain in-depth understanding of core methods and approaches within a professional context appropriate for their pathway through a balanced blend of theory and practice that lead to the following:

• Critical evaluation of written, visual and material sources
• Application and integration of critical evaluation as appropriate for research projects
• Production of online resources based on student’s conceptualization of a particular problem related to architecture, space or product design. This can be related to ideas about space, sustainability, transport design or other relevant issues inspired by the city of Barcelona
• Development of innovative research ideas that are the basis of a project proposal following guidance by academic staff

Part 4: Final project

This part takes place in the 3rd semester and requires mainly independent study, although an average of 10 contact hours for guidance is provided as well. In this part, the students are able to choose their own research interest, develop their own ideas and implement them on a specific area of their choice. The student is expected to:

• Promote a period of sustained independent work relevant to their pathway
• Promote an explorative approach to the resolution of their ideas and ambitions for their discipline-specific work
• Apply a critical understanding of their work and that of others toward the resolution and selection of work for final presentation

The Final project is assessed in the following methods:

Select one (subject to supervision approval) of the following, either:

• 8,000 - I0,000 word dissertation comprising
  • Critical analysis of a context pertinent to your ideas (2000 words)
  • Critical analysis of a design problem (4000 words)
  • Critical analysis of a particular design object (4000 words)

OR

• Selected portfolio of work