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TOP DESIGN SCHOOLS

By Julia Belluz Edited by Jessica Johnson and Nelda Rodger

Architectural Association School of Architecture (London, England) Notable program Master in Architecture and Urbanism (16 months)

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In just over a decade, the AAs Design Research Laboratory has become one of the most esteemed design programs in the world. In step with the rapidly evolving digital design disciplines, learning is project based and dedicated to innovation in architecture and urbanism, and exploring new tools, systems and discourses. This is known as the worlds most internationally diverse graduate design program; nearly all students and staff originate from overseas. Students: 65. Star faculty: Yusuke Obuchi, Patrik Schumacher, Theodore Spyropoulos. Alumni: Will Alsop, Ben van Berkel, Steven Holl. Special resources: A high-profile roster of visiting architects, designers, and theorists Iaki balos, Stan Allen, Zaha Hadid and Ross Lovegrove is one draw. Students can also take advantage of the cuttingedge Digital Prototyping Lab, as well as Hooke Park, a 140-hectare woodland that acts as a laboratory for experimentation and research on issues relating to the environment, sustainability, and architecture. The experts say: AA is the mecca for architects. 70
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Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at University College London (London, England) Notable program Bachelor of Science in Architecture (three years)

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Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (New York City) Notable program Master of Architecture (three years)
Looking ahead to the architecture of tomorrow, this program attracts students who are focused on experimentation and evolving architectural intelligence. Central to the course is the Architecture Design Studio, a structured path of study that prepares students for professions related to design. Complementary areas of study include history/theory, building technologies, visual studies, methods/practice and an elective. Students: 250. Star faculty: Kenneth Frampton, Franois Roche, Bernard Tschumi. Alumni: Peter Eisenman, Winka Dubbeldam, Antoine Predock. Special resources: An endowment allows every student a paid international trip to further their studies, whether they are working on favelas in Rio de Janeiro or shrinking cities in Japan. The school is housed in the same building as the Avery Library, the worlds pre-eminent collection of architecture books, periodicals, archives and , students drawings. At the Studio-X downtown loft, can work and meet off campus. The experts say: Its the fastest conceptual school in the world. This experimental studio and workshop program offers most of its design teaching on a one-toone tutorial basis. Nearly all tutors are practising architects, and over three years the courses increasingly stress the interactive nature of design and the place of technical realization in the process. The Bartlett Faculty is housed within a multidisciplinary school, and in addition to taking design and core courses in history and theory, technology and professional studies, students address how to further integrate the professions of architecture, planning and construction management. Students: 242. Star faculty: C. J. Lim, Colin Fournier, Christine Hawley. Special resources: Students can use the photographic facility replete with enlargers and darkrooms for creative expression and to document their work. A new studio for CAD/CAM recently opened, incorporating CNC routers, a five-axis milling centre and laser cutters. The Interactive Architecture Workshop conducts research into the discipline and its future directions.

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If youre interested in being a designer, wheres the best place to get an education? Azure asked more than 100 international architects, interior designers, industrial designers and other practitioners to contribute to our inaugural survey. Some of the biggest names in the design world, such as Kengo Kuma (architecture), James Corner (landscape architecture) and Karim Rashid (industrial design), weighed in. Despite a rigorous effort to make our survey accurate and fair, we want to underscore that this is a subjective overview. We set no boundaries for geography or budget; we simply asked members of the design community what they think, partly to get a sense of where decision makers are looking for their next interns and junior associates. We also thought that the next generation would welcome an honest reflection of which schools have the best reputations. We did! Wed like to hear your thoughts, too. Submit your comments and find more words to the wise from leading designers at azuremagazine.com.
Methodology: The three or four top schools in each category reflect our panels general consensus about which offer the best instruction for English-speaking students. In every category, a few schools with strong support or growing buzz merited a Special Mention.

Yale School of Architecture (New Haven, Connecticut) Notable program Master of Architecture (three years)

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If my son asked me where to study architecture, I would advise him to do his undergrad in Germany, because the schools provide more technical and basic skills, and then to do his postgraduate degree in the U.S. or Canada.

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Stefan Behnisch, Stuttgart

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The advice I give to anyone thinking about studying architecture: when they leave high school, go away, far from home, and do something else for at least a year. Architecture is related to our experience in the world, so you need to have experience of the world if thats what you want to study.
Will Alsop, London, U.K.
PHOTO BY IWAN BAAN

With its pluralistic approach to teaching architecture, the school does not promote any one style or theory of design. The objective here is to reflect the belief that architecture is an intellectual discipline. Students follow a curriculum that includes architectural design, building technology, freehand and computer-assisted drawing and an introduction to design methodologies, as well as courses in architectural theory and the planning, design and development of the urban landscape. Students: 190. Star faculty: dean Robert A.M. Stern, Peter Eisenman, Frank Gehry. Alumni: William McDonough, Sir Norman Foster. Special resources: The Yale Urban Design Workshop is a community design centre that provides planning and design assistance on projects ranging from economic development strategies and community visions to the design of public spaces and streetscapes. The schools fabrication labs house cutting-edge equipment, including a vertical mill, a metal lathe, laser cutters, a water jet cutter, three-axis CNC mills, a five-axis robotic-arm CNC mill with a nine-foot reach, a digitally controlled foam cutter and two 3-D plastic printers.

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Cooper Union, New York City

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ARCHITECTURE
Special mention
Cooper Union Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture (New York City) Bachelor of Architecture Founder Peter Cooper believed that education should be as free as air and water. The 30 students admitted to the program each year receive full scholarships for their entire stay. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Laboratory (Cambridge, Massachusetts) Master in Media Arts and Sciences MAS candidates at the School of Architecture and Planning can partake in the Media Lab, which performs research at the convergence of computing, publishing and broadcast. Focus areas include Design Ecology (how to enhance understanding and creativity and ease our interactions with technology) and Smart Cities (how buildings and cities can be better designed to respond to the needs of their inhabitants). TU Delft (Delft, the Netherlands) Master of Science in Architecture The technology and engineering schools at TU Delft shift the emphasis to architectures technical and scientific aspects. Research by Design, central to the M.Sc. Architecture track, allows students to pick a field of research specialization in such topics as Future Cities, Materialization and Design Development, and Architectural Engineering. University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong) Bachelor and Master of Architecture Under the leadership of former Princeton dean Ralph Lerner, the school sits at the intersection of Chinese heritage and global influence. Students can work on local projects, such as the design and repair of rural bridges, and also participate in an international exchange program.

I would go back to my own school, AA, where I did five years. I hated it in the beginning, but later on I never regretted that I had studied so long. Thats what I emphasize to students: that its key to learn.
Ben van Berkel, UNStudio, Amsterdam

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An architecture schools location matters. Is it situated in a metropolis or in a smaller town? Its location impacts the issues a school takes on.
Brigitte Shim, Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto

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Columbia University, New York

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Yale School of Architecture, New Haven, Connecticut

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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Harvard Graduate School of Design (Cambridge, Massachusetts) Notable program Master in Landscape Architecture (three years)
This course bills itself as the oldest and most distinguished academic program in landscape architecture in the world. Students are encouraged to think of themselves as advocates of landscape rescue and conservation in an increasingly urban world. Students: 104. Star faculty: Bridget Baines, Martha Schwartz, Michael R. Van Valkenburgh. Alumni: Edward Durell Stone Jr., Garrett Eckbo. Special resources: The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, based at Harvard and MIT, is dedicated to the study of Islamic art and architecture, urbanism, landscape design and conservation. Students have access to the Harvard Forest, one of the oldest and most intensively studied green spaces in North America, as well as the Arnold Arboretum, one of the worlds leading centres for the study of plants. The experts say: Harvard has an excellent core design philosophy and access to incredible real world projects and practitioners.

For architecture and landscape architecture alike, I favour programs that teach students to draw by hand and to make things. This teaches them to develop their own solid design methods and to think for themselves.
Mary Tremain, Plant Architect, Toronto

University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture (Austin, Texas) Notable program Master of Landscape Architecture (three years)
This program, established in 2002, aims to meet the demands of urbanization by focusing on landscape, processes of urbanization and the construction of cities and public spaces. Students are exposed to the whole realm of architectural design, and are encouraged to take classes across the disciplines, including community and regional planning, urban design, historical preservation and sustainable design. Students: 42. Star faculty: Mirka Bene, Hope Hasbrouck. Special resources: In line with the schools long history of creativity and commitment to sustainable design is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which researches sustainability, landscape performance and the preservation of natural plants and landscapes. Students can make use of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, among the worlds premiere repositories of material relating to the humanities, including rare works on architecture, such as Italian Renaissance treatises.

Special mention
ETH (Zurich) Master of Advanced Studies in Landscape Architecture Led by Christophe Girot of Atelier Girot, this program is being relaunched this year as a leader in avantgarde research and the innovative use of modelling and visualization tools and technologies.

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The founding base of such movements as ecological design and landscape urbanism, Penn Landscape remains a relevant centre for advanced landscape design and theory. Students learn about ecology, environmental technology, urban landscape architecture, and media and visualization, and can work toward a dual degree in architecture, city planning and fine arts. Students: 125. Star faculty: Paolo Brgi, James Corner, Laurie Olin. Alumni: Philippe Coignet, Amy Freitag, Frederick Steiner. Special resources: Relationships with such firms as Paolo Brgi Architetto Paesaggista and Field Operations, which accept students for internships and frequently hire alumni. The program also enjoys affiliations with institutions in Venice, Reggio Calabria, Zurich, Beijing, Caracas, Mumbai and Prague. The schools architectural archives house the works of more than 400 designers, from the 18th century to the present.

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University of Pennsylvania School of Design (Philadelphia) Notable program Master of Landscape Architecture (three years)

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Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) Master of Landscape Architecture Students are exposed to studies in ecology, construction, computer applications, parks and recreation planning and design, community site planning, and regional resource analysis and planning. During the second semester of their fourth year, they can escape campus to participate in a 28-week internship or a semester in Italy. University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia) Master of Landscape Architecture

With faculty (including Julie Bargmann of DIRT Studio) dedicated to building regenerative landscapes, this program is committed to preservation and sustainable design initiatives. International collaboration gives students a global outlook, through a travel studio to Mexico City and partnerships with Leibniz University in Germany and Peking University in China.

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University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture Austin, Texas

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INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Design Academy Eindhoven (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) Notable program Bachelor of Design (four years)
Established in 1947, the Design Academy quickly became synonymous with excellence in industrial design. Guided by the belief that education is about meeting oneself, neophyte designers are encouraged to locate their inner design voice. At the end of first year, which involves a rotation through design basics, students choose from eight departments in which to concentrate, such as Man and Living, Man and Public Space, and Man and Mobility. Students: 750 (150 in the bachelor program). Star faculty: Carole Baijings, Gijs Bakker, Stefan Scholten. Alumni: Jurgen Bey, Tord Boontje, Hella Jongerius. Special resources: The school has impressive plaster, digital, machine and textile workshops. Students may participate in exchanges with the Royal College of Art and cole Nationale Suprieure de Cration Industrielle (ENSCI), among others. For mandatory onesemester internships, students can capitalize on partnerships with international leaders in design. The experts say: At Eindhoven, you learn to think freely about design and express yourself instead of listening too much to the wishes of clients and what the market wants. Youre not following any trends. You learn to create trends yourself.

Dont be too stubborn, dont listen too much, dont think you already know. Some firstyear students think they are Philippe Starck or Marcel Wanders already, but they are not. You are learning to be a designer. You shouldnt want to design a classic in the first couple of years of your education.
Joost van Bleiswijk, the Netherlands

ECAL University of Art and Design Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland) Notable program Bachelor of Industrial Design (three years)
The curriculum balances respect for tradition with an imperative to question the status quo. Students are equipped with a solid grounding in industrial design basics, and encouraged to engage in projects that span from the small scale to mass production, incorporating different technologies and materials. Students: 91. Star faculty: Ronan Bouroullec, Jrg Boner. Alumni: Grgoire Jeanmonod, Elric Petit, Augustin Scott de Martinville. Special resources: Students receive international exposure through ECALs participation in design events, exhibitions and competitions. The schools industry partnerships include such companies as Ligne Roset, B&B Italia and Coca-Cola. ECAL has academic partnerships with Design Academy Eindhoven; the University of Applied Sciences, Munich; and RCA. Instruction is mostly in French with some English.

Royal College of Art (London, England) Notable program Master of Arts in Design Products (two years)
RCA boasts being the only exclusively postgraduate university of art and design in the world. Tord Boontje recently took over as head of the design products program and introduced three new focus areas: Extreme Functionality, the Social Manifesto, and the Fantastic. Students work in small study groups called platforms, each with its own tutors and approach to design. Students: 77. Star faculty: Jurgen Bey, Tord Boontje, Julia Lohmann. Alumni: Paul Cocksedge, Thomas Heatherwick, Ross Lovegrove. Special resources: Collaborations with external partners, such as Yamaha and the Milan furniture fair, give candidates the opportunity to work with world-renowned brands and companies and exhibit their work globally. All students have their own workspaces in the departments studios, and a roster of renowned visiting professors and tutors act as mentors. The experts say: The school is based in London, a huge city with all its benefits and problems, and covers the creative field: architecture, interactive design, jewellery, fashion, textiles. Unfortunately, you have to choose one department, but students across programs easily meet and work together.

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Design Academy Eindhoven the Netherlands

I always believed schools are only as good as the professors in them at that moment. In other words, one should distrust reputation. It is not the school but the mentors that one should seek out.
Karim Rashid, New York City

Design Academy Eindhoven

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PHOTOS: LEFT, A DROP OF WATER BY BAS VAN DER VEER; RIGHT, WALL MURAL BY MATHILDE ALDERS. BOTH COURTESY OF DESIGN ACADEMY EINDHOVEN GRADUATION GALLERIES

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My advice to students applying to a college is that they should wait a few years and think about this only as a mature student. This is what I did, and the level of focus and appreciation I had after working in different places made a huge and important difference to the type of experience I had.
Peter Marigold, London, U.K.

INTERACTION DESIGN

Special mention
Art Center College of Design (Pasadena, California) Bachelor of Science in Product Design The business end of a design career is examined through the schools partnership with INSEAD, a leading business school in Fontainebleau, France, and Singapore. While on exchange, students attend business courses and work with MBA candidates on creative projects. Free University of Bozen (Bolzano, Italy) Bachelor in Design and Art Students who enter with fluency in only one language will come out speaking three: English, German and Italian. Focused on visual communications and product design, the school takes an interdisciplinary approach. Students can access studios that cover typography, metalwork, plastics and more.

Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, Rhode Island) Bachelor of Industrial Design RISD trains undergraduates in traditional models and current trends, tracing the profession from developmental drawings, to 3-D mock-ups and models, to working drawings and prototypes. Some projects are for corporate clients such as Nokia, and students can benefit from partnerships with MIT as well as ongoing studios with NASA. University of Art and Design Helsinki (Helsinki) Master of Art in Industrial and Strategic Design

With the realization that industrial designers need to turn their attention to the everevolving world of information, interaction design programs that focus on the digital realm particularly the relationship between people, design and technology have popped up around the globe. Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh) Master of Design in Interaction Design

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Besides the fact that Helsinki is 2012s World Design Capital, the school has a reputation for providing students with an understanding of the economic significance and socio-cultural influence of design. A personal study plan is created for each student at the beginning of the program.

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Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island

Royal College of Art, London, England

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After building an intellectual foundation via studio and coursework (including psychology and computer science), the focus shifts to individual or team exploration through a thesis. Practical experience is provided by sponsoring corporations, which have included Microsoft and Motorola. Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (Copenhagen) Interaction Design Program

This collaborative initiative with the Danish Design School aims to create a new kind of education in a multicultural, multidisciplinary studio environment. In-depth investigations into graphic/ tangible interfaces and service design follow short workshops. Domus Academy (Milan, Italy) Master in Interaction Design The program is known at the academy as I-Design a reference to the commingling of iconic Italian design and IT. Theme seminars are enriched by field trips. Both seminars and projects are held in collaboration with national and international companies. Royal College of Art (London, England) Master in Arts in Design Interactions After coursework in new skills, such as electronic and software prototyping, students initiate their own projects. BMW and Vodafone have been partners for annual collaborative industry assignments. TU Delft (Delft, the Netherlands) Master of Science in Design for Interaction Specialization is offered in one of three areas: automotive, research and health care design. Coursework is followed by two large design projects: first, an assignment for a real company to be completed with candidates in other M.Sc. programs; then a graduation project, often within a professional setting. Ume University (Ume, Sweden) Master of Arts in Interaction Design The first of its kind to emerge in the design-happy Nordic countries, this program is project based. A 20-week assignment involves industrial partners, including such major Scandinavian companies as Volvo and Ikea.

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INTERIOR DESIGN
Parsons The New School for Design (New York City) Notable program Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design (four years)
In the first interior design program in the U.S., founded in 1906, the focus now is integration, and students cross-pollinate with their contemporaries in architecture, lighting and industrial design. The program begins with a foundation in two- and three-dimensional design methods and skills, and then a series of art and design history and theory courses, followed by a six-semester studio sequence on architectural issues. Students: 64. Star faculty: Matthew Baird, Stella Betts, David Ling. Alumni: Sheila Bridges, Thomas Britt, Albert Hadley. Special resources: Students tap into New Yorks design community to complete their required internships, working for the likes of Ralph Appelbaum Associates and Ian Schrager. The experts say: Parsons is forward looking, and it has an amazing faculty. Architecture gets a lot of attention, and certainly there is some overlap between the two disciplines.

Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, Rhode Island) Notable program Master of Interior Architecture (three years)
This comprehensive program with a low intake of students focuses on interior architecture, a spatial art that differs from both architecture and interior design in its full commitment to rethinking the life of existing buildings. The dedication to sustainability extends to the social sphere: the departments guiding principle is that well-designed interiors are not only for the wealthy. Graduates leave with a grasp of multiple aspects of the built environment through a core curriculum that includes studies in structures, materials, lighting and technology. Students: 52. Star faculty: Liliane Wong, Heinrich Hermann. Alumni: Andrea Bucci-Valentini, Glenn Lepore, Franklin Salasky. Special resources: As the result of a newly formed partnership with Denmark International Study in Copenhagen, students with advanced standing are offered the opportunity to participate in a summer program in Denmark, which enables them to earn an MIA in two years rather than three.

Ryerson University (Toronto) Notable program Bachelor of Interior Design (four years)
Ryerson dominates the discussion about the best interior design school in Canada, and graduates are equipped with the necessary technical skills to hit the ground running when they leave school. Instruction extends from the how of design, to communication skills such as freehand drawing, CAD and oral presentation, as well as classes in liberal arts, the humanities, social sciences and the history of design. Students: 350. Star faculty: Annick Mitchell, Barbara Vogel. Alumni: Brian Gluckstein, Glenn Pushelberg, George Yabu. Special resources: Exchanges are offered in such far flung cities as Sydney, Hong Kong and Cracow. Facilities have recently been renovated and upgraded. The experts say: I would go to Ryerson again if I were to return to school tomorrow.

SHORTTERM AND ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS

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A number of learning institutions offer opportunities for one-of-a-kind, CV-boosting experience, without the investment in time and financial resources of a full degree. George Brown Colleges Institute Without Boundaries (Toronto) This nine-month program provides a platform for students to work on real non-profit projects with an emphasis on collaboration with other professions. Supported by external partners and clients, outcomes range from communication projects to systems that tackle social and environmental issues around the world. institutewithoutboundaries.com Rural Studio at Auburn University (Hale County, Alabama) Conceived as an experimental strategy to improve living conditions in rural Alabama, the studio underlines the social importance of architecture and offers valuable practical experience by challenging students to design and build for local communities. ruralstudio.org

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Ghost Lab, MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects (Halifax) Directed by Brian MacKay-Lyons on the coast of Nova Scotia, Ghost Lab is a two-week designbuild internship that promotes the application of architectural knowledge through the design and fabrication of a pavilion. mlsarchitects.ca/ghost Toh Shimazaki Architecture, TSA Forum (London, England) This four-week course strikes a helpful balance between professional practice and individual expression as students work on briefs the office is handling. This year, the firms Yuli Toh and Takero Shimazaki will take the forum to Tokyo. t-sa.co.uk Biomimicry and Design Workshop (Costa Rica) Dayna Baumeister, co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild, leads this week-long introductory course where students and professionals from various fields go beyond textbook problem solving by turning to bio-inspired design solutions. biomimicryguild.com

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The first job you get, people are more interested in than anything else. It will set the tone for the rest of your career.
Stephen Roberts, New York City

Special mention
Cornell University (Ithaca, New York) Master of Arts in Design With a view of interior design as it relates to business, environmental sustainability, health and well-being, this program offers four interdisciplinary specializations, including special populations, which focuses on designing for those who are injured, sick, or suffering from genetic abnormalities or developmental disorders. Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas) Master of Interior Architecture and Product Design While students major in interiors, they also receive a grounding in other design professions, including architecture and product design. In addition to history and studio elements, classes in oral and written English, mathematics and physics round out this program . Pratt Institute (New York City) Master of Science in Interior Design The emphasis in this architecturally oriented program is on spatial design rather than embellishment. Students can broaden their education by taking classes across Pratts esteemed creative departments, from architecture to digital and fine arts.

Early on, be broad minded and embrace learning about other disciplines. Realize that collaboration and leadership are fundamental to a successful career. Make sure you are learning as much about these skills as you are about specific design skills.
W. Kenneth Wiseman, Cannon Design, Washington, D.C.

I would have studied architecture rather than interior design for an undergrad (perhaps at the University of Toronto), because I think its better as a general education. Interior design schools tend to have too much focus on industry expectations.
Agata Jaworska, Droog, Amsterdam

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Parsons The New School for Design, New York City

PHOTO BY MATTHEW SUSSMAN

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