Cycle 1: design option
The design option at isdaT endeavours to address the current imbalance between design practices and the issue of overproduction in capitalist societies.
This orientation results in the development of an attitude towards design that is attentive, sensitive and critical whilst considering the complexity of ecological and social balances: human organisations, resources, modes of supply and production, the uses and practices that extend beyond a fixed proposal, adaptability, repairability, and even self-management by the inhabitants concerned.
Thus, the specificity of the training lies partly in the practice of a field.
Confronted with diverse project contexts rooted in reality, students are encouraged to observe, analyse, and investigate the contexts approached in order to be as close as possible to the protagonists and the specificities of the different areas*. In addition, a practical workshop offers a space to cultivate a spirit of ingenuity and inventiveness in order to think and to create operative forms which are able to make the world more liveable in everyday life, whether it involves designing the signs, the objects or the spaces.
*This investigation practice is as much a methodological contribution as a strategy for integration into the economic and social network.
Spaces and objects specialisation
In the first cycle, the design option with a specialisation in spaces and objects trains designers to conceive and carry out projects in the field of design with particular attention to resources and modes of production, and to implement them through the design of objects and/or installations for social spaces (from the private to the public sphere).
Based on the analysis of real specifications emanating from real situations, students learn to mobilise knowledge and techniques specific to the project methodology of space and object, as well as to produce technical documents allowing production and reproduction in various manufacturing locations.
The curriculum includes theoretical and technical courses, a project workshop (3 studios to choose from), research and personal projects (case studies, spatial installation…), as well as time dedicated to professionalisation (internships, workshops, participation in exhibitions, competitions, and other events).
Internships
Projects in collaboration with institutions outside of isdaT are organised in the different years of the design option (workshop, competition, real-life scenario, internship). They are intended to encourage familiarity with the methods of research and joint work in conditions approaching those of the realities of the professional world. The internships—lasting a total of four weeks—can be carried out in several periods, but must take place in semesters 4 or 5.
Assessments
Credits are awarded by a panel of college teachers and are based on the following components: continuous assessment, staging and semester evaluations. At the end of semester 4, the board decides whether the student advances to semester 5 or needs to repeat the semester. A student may not be allowed to repeat a year. At the end of semester 6 (approximately 8 weeks before the DNA), the council allocates the credits for the acquisition of the diploma; this consists of the presentation of pieces chosen from semesters 1 to 6 which are indicative of each student’s evolution and of their work during the semester, inaugurating the start of the research phase.
Courses catalog
Since the start of the 2023 academic year, all information concerning the course programme and timetables can be found on the dedicated Art, design and graphic design courses catalog website (in French).
The path to a diploma
During the DNA, research and course work done by the student during the first six semesters are evaluated by a guest jury.
Admission into cycle 2
Before obtaining the DNA, students who wish to continue their second cycle studies at isdaT will appear before an admissions committee. This is announced in the form of a written submission that includes the research project and portfolio. A student in year 3 can appear before one or more admission committees for the 2nd cycle regardless of the option chosen during the 1st cycle. Students can also appear before the equivalence and admission committees of other schools if the above is in keeping with their career or goals.
Staff
Art, design, and graphic design studies director
David Mozziconacci
david.mozziconacci@isdat.fr
Coordinating teachers
Nathalie Bruyère and Jean-Marc Evezard
Department secretary
Bettina Mellet and Fabrice Matéo
+33 (0)5 31 47 11 95
+33 (0)5 31 47 11 94
bettina.mellet@isdat.fr
fabrice.mateo@isdat.fr