Left: Amale Andraos, dean of Columbia GSAPP; Middle: Hernan Diaz Alonso, graduate programs chair at SCI-Arc; Right: Christopher Scoates, director of Cranbrook Academy of Art-Courtesy (left) Bjarne Jonasson, (middle) Michal Czerwonka, (right) Cranbrook Academy

Three leading educators on the continuing importance of design schools

Education is changing, but where is it going? In the first of a series of design dialogues, leaders from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP); Cranbrook Academy of Art; and Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) weigh in on framing a curriculum, finding jobs for recent graduates, and making connections to the outer world.

Why should someone invest in design school today?

Amale Andraos, dean of Columbia GSAPP: Design education combines particular expertise with the ability to work collaboratively, build teams across different fields, and visualize the forces shaping the built environment. As we increasingly face the challenges of climate change across scales and the globe, I think the ability to re-present, which is at the foundation of design education and thinking, is more critical than ever.

Hernan Diaz Alonso, graduate programs chair, incoming SCI-Arc director: Design has been an important aspect of our culture for a very long time. The opportunities open to designers today are clearly unprecedented, mainly due to the shifting nature of contemporary culture, which promotes a peculiar mix of hyper-specialization and intellectual holism. Designers are required to constantly negotiate between these extremes and to be an expert in their projects. This means having to be fluent in skill sets ranging from theoretical writing to cutting-edge fabrication methods. Dexterity is mandatory, and this is definitely something that contemporary design education stimulates and fine-tunes in students.....Continue Reading

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