Collaboration with award-winning Domus Academy in Italy expands global design education programs at San Diego’s NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD)
 

Nov. 27, 2013 - San Diego, Calif. - Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD is pleased to announce the addition of the Bachelor of Arts in Product Design program to its suite of global design programs. The program, which is open to enrollment for the 2014–2015 school year, provides students with an integrated design study experience through interdisciplinary education opportunities, an emphasis on international design perspectives, and hands-on projects developed in conjunction with leading design practitioners and companies. A Dec. 12 event at NSAD featuring innovative products will formally mark the launch of the product design program, which has been developed in collaboration with the famed Domus Academy in Milan, Italy, named  one of the “World’s Best Design Schools” by Businessweek.

The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD is uniquely positioned to offer students a world-class educational experience through NSAD’s interdisciplinary offerings in digital design and architecture, as well as through collaborations with Domus Academy that leverage proven Italian design approaches.  The Domus Academy product design master’s program has been named among the world’s top 30 design schools by Frame Publishers, whose flagship publication, Frame, is a global reference for designers and interior architects.

“There is a growing need for product designers who bring global perspectives and an interdisciplinary approach to designing unique and relevant user experiences,” said Ezequiel Farca, an award-winning Mexican designer whose global firm handles architecture, interior and product design projects. “The product design program offered through the Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD addresses this need by providing students with an integrated, world-class education that prepares them to be leaders in their field.”

The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD, which includes the product design program and an interior design program, brings to San Diego the quality and innovation of Domus Academy.  To further emphasize the Italian design approach and Domus tradition, NSAD’s interior design and product design programs incorporate a study abroad opportunity at Domus Academy in Milan, at no additional tuition cost. In addition, the Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD has been named an example of the Future of Design Education: Teaching Innovation by Interior Design magazine, for “preparing interior design students for 21st century demands.”

“We are excited to add the product design program to our growing interdisciplinary offerings as we contribute to making San Diego a center of global design innovation,” said Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD Director Elena Pacenti. “Italy has become the epicenter of design-driven brands and culture, developing a products industry that exports design all over the world. We challenge our students to apply this foundation to projects here in San Diego and anywhere in the world.”

An event planned for Dec. 12 – “Innovation by Design” – will introduce the Bachelor of Arts in Product Design program to the community by featuring the work of product designers and introducing program instructors and advisory board members. The product design program incorporates an updated and comprehensive definition of product that includes complex and interactive objects as well as product-service systems and experiences. It emphasizes a humanistic approach to design, sensitive to sustainable and socially responsible development, and provides students with not only the tools for “how to do” but the reasons “why to do.” Career paths and employment for graduates of product and industrial design programs demonstrate a growing need for individuals trained in these fields. Product/Industrial designers held about 40,800 jobs in 2010, and employment of industrial designers is expected to increase by 10% by 2020, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

The product and interior design programs build on NSAD’s strong tradition in architecture programming and provide students with even greater interdisciplinary opportunities in design disciplines. They complement the school’s newer programs in construction management, which offers an online master’s program, and digital media arts, which is also enhancing its educational offerings through collaborations with Media Design School in New Zealand.

About NewSchool of Architecture and Design
Located in downtown San Diego, NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) prepares students for career success in design fields through an emphasis on interdisciplinary and global design skills, industry collaborations and real-world projects. The school’s programs include architecture, construction management, product design and interior design. The school also offers programs in digital media arts, game art, game programming and animation. For the past two years, DesignIntelligence has ranked NSAD among the top 10 undergraduate architecture schools in the western United States in its publication “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools.” The school’s design environment provides inspiration for the school’s students and faculty, recognized for their work regionally and internationally, and NSAD students are prepared to work in a global and diverse work environment through the school’s collaborations with award-winning schools around the world such as Domus Academy in Milan, Italy and Media Design School in Auckland, New Zealand.

NSAD is accredited by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), a national accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, and NSAD’s Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture and Executive Master of Architecture programs are accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).  www.NewSchoolArch.edu.

About Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD
The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD is inspired by the quality and innovation of Italian design education leader Domus Academy in Milan, Italy - named one of the “World’s Best Design Schools” by Businessweek.  As a result of this collaborative relationship, NSAD now offers a Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design and a Bachelor of Arts in Product Design through the Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD. The programs incorporate global design into the curriculum through classes in San Diego and by offering students the chance to study abroad at Domus Academy in Milan, Italy - at no additional tuition cost. The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD is supported and guided by an advisory board of leading designers from around the world. The Domus Academy School of Design at NSAD complements NSAD’s interdisciplinary offerings of design-related programs that include architecture, construction management, digital media arts, animation, game art and game programming Both NSAD and Domus Academy are part of the Laureate International Universities network.