About Design School Kolding

Who are we?

Design School Kolding is a place where creative minds gather to immerse themselves in craftsmanship, art and research. We have workshops that are open 24/7 and an international setting where we work closely together.

We're grounded in reality and develop solutions in collaboration with start-ups as well as large companies. We explore how to live and how to create positive change. We try to solve problems and envision new possibilities.

Because the world is calling for change. For sustainability, community and a good life for everyone. So, it's not just about filling our lives with more stuff but about improving what already is. Making it more beautiful, functional, playful and appealing. It's about listening to people's needs and including them in the development of new solutions. 

Vision

Design School Kolding wants to be one of Denmark's and the world's leading design universities. We want to make an impact on the world. And we insist on the power of the hand, the mind and the heart.

Mission

Designers from Design School Kolding should

  • use design to develop products, systems and organisations, which promote sustainable ecology.   
  • contribute with a deep and trained sense of and knowledge about aesthetics, function and users together with other subjects and professions.
  • create connections by listening to others and by processing materials with your hands, mind and heart. 
  • work in cross-disciplinary teams on challenging and solving large societal problems and issues of our time, such as climate change, lack of welfare and social inequality. 
  • engage and use the tools of the design process in research collaborations and research networks nationally and internationally 

A higher education

Design School Kolding is an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science. The school trains designers at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Design School Kolding has approx 340 students and a number of PhD students, including industrial PhD students. Every year, the school admits around 150 new students - 80 in the BA programme and 70 in the MA programme. In addition, the school offers a Master’s programme in design management in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark.

 

Income and collaborations

The school’s income in 2021 amounted to DKK 80 million; two thirds of which came from the Finance Bill and the rest through external funding from companies and public institutions. The latter draw inspiration and support in the school’s two Laboratories: The Laboratory for Social Design (welfare design), the Laboratory for Sustainability and Design (sustainable business, fashion and energy), and the Laboratory for Play and Design.

Collaboration with companies

Design School Kolding’s external funding has increased significantly over the past years, and the school’s list of business partners is extensive. It includes B&O, Grundfos, Rambøll, Fritz Hansen, Kopenhagen Fur, Le Klint, Georg Jensen Damask, Swarovski, to name but a few.

International collaborations

The school cooperates with a wide range of international universities and design institutions, including two outposts at foreign universities: one at Tongji University in Shanghai in China and one at University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. 

 

The history of Design School Kolding

In August 1967, the school, then known as Kunsthåndværkerskolen, opened in Kolding with a textiles line (printing and weaving) and an advertising line. The school was established in Vesterbrogade as a department under Kolding Tekniske Skole. The following year, the school moved to premises in Bdr. Volkerts Fabrikker, and a ceramics line was added. At this time, the school had around 100 students.

In 1970, yet another specialism was added: Clothing. In 1989, the programme was restructured and improved, and extended from four years to five. After the first phase of a new educational structure, the school now included a one-year interdisciplinary basic school, four two-year lines (Clothing, Graphic Design and Illustration, Ceramics and Textiles), and three two-year specialist departments (Department of Industrial Design, Department of Unique Design and Department of Visual Communication).

In 1993, Graphic Design and Illustration, the Department of Visual Communication, Ceramics and parts of the Department of Unique Design moved to Saxovej. Bdr. Volkerts Fabrikker now housed administration, the basic school, Clothing, Textiles, the Department of Industrial Design, parts of the Department of Unique Design, workshop, auditorium and canteen. In 1995, a new programme in Interactive Multimedia was set up.

The school becomes independent 

In January 1996, Design School Kolding broke away from Kolding Tekniske Skole to become an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Education. The school acquired the Solar building in Ågade and organised an architectural competition to renovate and refurbish the building.

The content and structure of the programme were changed again, with the result that the Department of Industrial Design and the Department of Unique Design were disbanded and replaced by the Department of Product Design. The Department of Form and Theory was established, while the Department of Visual Communication was maintained. The objective was greater interdisciplinary collaboration, with more emphasis on theoretical aspects and form.

In 1998, the school moved into the new building at Ågade 10, gathering all of the school’s departments under one roof. At the same time, the school changed its name to Design School Kolding.

Extension and closure of Ceramics 

In 2002, the government and the political parties entered into an agreement for the artistic programmes under the Ministry for Culture which meant that, for four years, the school was guaranteed a steady income provided it met certain requirements. The first actual research project was initiated.

The following year, the school inaugurated an extension including workshops, study areas and a photographic studio. At the same time, a new Executive Order was approved for Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes. The first four-year performance contract was entered into with the Ministry of Culture, which decided to shut down Ceramics in 2007.

New departments and university status 

In 2008, two large subject-specific departments were set up: the Department of Communication Design, comprising graphic design, illustration and interaction design (formerly interactive media) and the Department of Product Design with industrial design, fashion and textiles. Research became part of the new Faculty for Education and Research, which also handles student administration and cross-disciplinary teaching.

The school underwent an accreditation process along with evaluation of its research activities, resulting in the school being granted university status in 2010, and thus able to offer a three-year Bachelor’s programme, a two-year Master’s programme and then the possibility of a PhD.

In connection with the presentation of the Finance Bill for 2014, the school will have the opportunity to set up an Accessory Design programme (Bachelor’s and Master’s) with a focus on shoes, bags and jewellery. The new programme will mean the intake of an extra 60 students over the next five years.

Positive institution accreditation 
In June 2020 the school is granted a positive institution accreditation. This means that the school officially meets the criteria for offering excellent and relevant university programmes in an environment that supports openness and dialogue. A positive institution accreditation gives the school the responsibility and freedom to implement a system, which ensures the quality and relevance of its programmes as well as the possibility to set up new programmes and adjust existing ones.  

Competitions, exhibitions, etc.

In 2019 Design School Kolding received the Danish Design Council’s Honorary Award as a tribute to long and faithful service to design, its use and its dissemination.

“Design School Kolding has managed to invigorate large design companies in the immediate area and has raised the interdisciplinary standard. The school has also helped to ensure the presence of a strong, high-quality, international design environment outside Copenhagen. It has made the Danish design DNA – based on values and aesthetics – relevant to the 21st century”, the Council said.

In 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 Design School Kolding graduates received the Young Talent Award at the Danish Design Award.

In 2017 Design School Kolding was nominated for the prestigious Milano Design Award for the REDO Super Supermarket exhibition at Salone del Mobile, the world’s leading design fair. 

Design School Kolding has two final projects represented in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

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