A unique combination of artistic, design, and theoretical subjects, makes studying at the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design enormously varied and exciting for professional careers in the future. With communication design, product design, media art, exhibition design, and scenography, as well as art research, media theory, and media philosophy, the university present itself as an art school of a particular type that has increasingly developed since the early 1990s in Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Common to all courses is the inter-disciplinary project work practiced from the beginning, allowing for an ideal combination of theory and praxis that reflects the university's teaching concept. The cooperation with neighboring ZKM | Center for Art and Media underlines the interdisciplinary focus of the school. Internationally renowned professors and artists ensure excellent teaching while maintaining its international profile. Well-equipped studios and workshops guarantee a highly innovative environment for the nurture of experimentation.
A prominent feature of the university is the building itself. The school is housed in a former industrial building together with ZKM. The atriums, light bridges, and adjoining rooms offer unique spaces for events and exhibitions. At present, the university offers its circa 400 students excellent studying conditions and still offers Diplom or Magister degrees – one of the few in Germany to do so still. With these internationally recognized certificates and a wide range of project-based courses, graduates are prepared to an optimum standard after their academic studies for their professional requirements.
On January 28, 2008, the German Council of Science and Humanities awarded Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design for its excellent educational concept after a comprehensive evaluation. The council especially highlighted its ability to innovate, its flexibility, and its students, colleagues, and teachers' social competence. It also praised the exceptional range of courses on offer with which the school was able to establish itself as a leading education and research center. The modern organizational structure of the school and the numerous cooperations with international educational institutions – particularly with neighboring ZKM | Center for Art and Media – were also acknowledged. The university takes this excellent evaluation above all as an obligation for the future.
It had become evident by the eighties in Europe that economics, politics, and art would no longer be built on traditional industries, ideological rhetoric, and aesthetics. The legendary eight-volume report on the German government commission for the expansion of technical communications (KtK) was published in 1974 – three years earlier, the Japan Computer Development Institute had coined the term information society for political strategy and stated this as their "national goal" for the year 2000. The Paris exhibition "Electra," conceived by Prague-born Frank Popper and "Les Immatériaux" realized by the French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard was late but unmistakable a re-thinking for the drivers and operators as well as the poets and thinkers in post-modern society. New working and production methods required new thought cultures. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded its artistic research platform in 1967, the Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS), founded by the Hungarian artist Györgi Kepes.
Since February 2016, together with the council of the state university of arts and design, we have taken on the challenge to open up a perspective for students that will cater to the educational needs of new generations of students and creators, and that will keep surprising for the decades to come. We are working on a new program that integrates the diverse perspectives of design, art, and theory with a foundation year for all and a stunning post-graduate conclusion at the end of the studies.
