Public Space Design Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Overview

The Public Space Design , B.Des course from Manipal Academy of Higher Education distinctively approaches spatial design through lenses of equity, inclusivity, gender, race, ethnicity, age, and socio-political and socio-technical amalgamations. Great spatial design opportunities exist in planned, unplanned, temporary and permanent spaces across diverse scales ranging from chai points to cafes, neighbourhood shops to retail hubs, every day meeting spaces to community centres; bus stops to places of mass transit, reading rooms to public libraries, from healthcare spaces to hospitality spaces, creative set designs to exhibition spaces to mention a few. The course equips the students to conceptualise, design, and help execute such spaces in urban and rural areas through studio-based learning. Spatial Design also encompasses design for accessibility, safety, community, cultural and artistic interventions, versatility and sustainability.

Inclusivity and interdisciplinary learning are core ideologies of the Public Space Design program. This Spatial Design Program is one of a kind in India, as it offers interdisciplinary, choice-based courses through the four-year program at an undergraduate level, allowing for student-centric learning and creative, radical choices of courses that a student can take each year to make a unique portfolio of work. B. Des in Public Space Design program equips aspiring spatial design practitioners to work with diverse practices, including that of artists, architects, planners, researchers, interior designers, product designers, governmental and government-allied consultancy, and community place makers. Above all, the Public Space Design Program allows for critical thinking of spatiality while enriching the students with skills that keep them ahead of the curve.

Core Values:

• Empathy and passion for social inclusion and equity
• Contextual awareness and sensitivity towards community and culture

• Ecological consciousness and responsibility towards the environment

The core values are experienced through a range of interdisciplinary learning approaches:

• Driven by Enquiry through generative themes that are rooted around historical, socio-cultural and political contexts
• Studio Based Learning is encouraged, where students work in teams.
• Theoretical and Critical approach to expand the idea of art and design practice
• Hands-on approach to making for developing self-expression,
• Research and collaborations as ways to widen thought and dimensions of practice.
• Field based enquiry making the real-world into a classroom
• Participatory approach through direct engagement with communities of various practitioners
• Participatory Approach & Fieldwork 

The students will learn through a studio-based pedagogy, with an emphasis on ‘making’, exercises on one hand and analytical courses on critical reading and writing on the other. They will learn various spatial thinking skills, practical design tools, and communication skills. Hands-on learning opportunities such as digital making and physical modelling will be encouraged. The students will be exposed to practical training as internships or apprenticeships with industry practices. The students will also handle larger holistic projects in their final semester through project-based thesis. Since the course is heavily invested in interdisciplinary learning, the students will have various choice-based courses that they can take to make an eclectic portfolio of work and explore their other creative interests. Students have taken disciplinary studio courses on spatial design in combination with furniture making, pottery, creative writing, mapping, climate change and environmental exposure courses.