Glass is a medium that crosses a range of disciplines and is used by artists, craftspeople and designers alike. This award-winning programme explores glass as a design tool that encourages process-led risk and play, in parallel with the prototyping and resolution of designed objects.
The programme covers contemporary design issues including material narratives, interdisciplinary crossover and post-digital practices, as well as studio and client-based projects.
You will focus on the materiality of glass, explore new boundaries through the integrated relationship between process and theory, and be encouraged to position yourself within and beyond the disciplines of glass.
This programme is unique in Scotland, and Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of the few centres of excellence in this discipline in the UK. Comprehensive glass and plaster workshops are complemented by state-of-the-art digital fabrication labs, woodwork, metalwork and bronze foundry, enabling you to experience the complete design journey from conception to the production of glass at the highest level.
You will benefit from visiting professional practitioners and lecturers and will have the opportunity to participate in live projects and competitions. The curriculum combines programme and student-led activity, delivered through workshops, group seminars and individual tutorials.
You will negotiate and develop a programme of study based on personal areas of practice-based research. We foster interdisciplinary collaboration with other areas of ECA creating a unique student experience and rich opportunities for learning.
Programme structure
This programme combines directed and self-directed practice-based studio projects with theoretical and written studies, including professional practice elements to prepare you for employment in the industry, and a lecture/seminar series to examine the wider context of your studies.
The programme focuses on providing the tools of craft and design through comprehensive professional practice workshops, focused on the specific requirements of the designer maker. You will produce a body of practical and written work on an agreed, self-initiated project.
You will be encouraged to embrace new skills that are central to the glass learning experience alongside integrating new technological processes (CAD, 3D printing, CNC milling and laser cutting) and non-material processes (user interactivity, performance and sound) into your studio practice. Process-led collaborations are core to the learning experience within Glass and at ECA. Our department embraces the spectrum of possibilities.
Research environment
Personal research methodologies are developed and disseminated through personal tutorials, seminar presentations and cross-departmental expositions. These tools will enable you to analytically and critically position yourself as part of the new wave of designers redefining the discipline.
Our dynamic team of experienced tutors, all established international practitioners, encourage and support students to create cross-disciplinary collaborations. We expect our postgraduate students to be independent yet able to engage in sophisticated design dialogue with tutors as a means of pushing your ideas to reach their full potential.
