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About the programme
As Academy students from this master’s programme, you will graduate as a Master of Arts in Architecture or Design, with specific focus on prospective challenges and opportunities in a changing society.
As designers and architects, you have the ability to translate concepts such as circularity, sustainability, innovation or user understanding into concrete and tactile design and architecture proposals, that can help create actual change. Tackling ‘wicked’ problems that arise from complex challenges requires one to be able to work across disciplines.
This is why the entire programme is structured around project-based modules where you get to work with actual companies and organisations and real-world challenges, in collaboration with students of social science from Copenhagen Business School/CBS.
Collaborative projects are undertaken in groups of students from both The Academy and CBS, divided according to the profiles of the architecture and design students. The programme is specifically directed at facilitating the exchange of knowledge between design, architecture, and management into fruitful and constructive meetings through design thinking methods for innovation and entrepreneurship. With a point of departure in your professional field as a design or architecture student you will gain experience working within an interdisciplinary environment.
We place great importance on explorative ideation and the development of concrete material strategies and proposals, while at the same time honing ones written analysis, theoretical knowledge, and dissemination.
For Academy students, all project work is supervised by studio teachers within their specific branch of design and architecture.
Structure and Content
Structure and Content
The Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship programme is developed as a joint master programme between The Royal Danish Academy & Copenhagen Business School. Each institution contributes to the programme, including research, knowledge, teaching, facilities, materials and exams. An equal number of students from The Royal Danish Academy and Copenhagen Business School will secure a balanced work environment for collaboration.
Knowledge, theory and methods will be provided through seminars, lectures, supervision, studio teaching, exercises and workshops. Experiences will be gained through engaging in fieldwork and user studies, group work, interventions and other collaborative activities, as well as through academic analysis, project framing and the making of project proposals; sketching, concept development and prototyping.
There is a strong focus on critical reflection through process documentation, presentations, reports and meta-reflection sessions.
Courses
Courses
Over the course of the 4 semesters, you will obtain knowledge about business models and organisational strategies based upon tools from design thinking such as user- and stakeholder facilitation, design processes for innovation, user-inclusive approaches to design, as well as, design approaches for sustainability in the broadest understanding of the word.
This way you will learn how to position your own project work strategically through working actively together with business- and management students with approaches such as stakeholder involvement, funding, future scenario testing and communication through design and architecture. You will learn how to explain your design process and interact in cross-disciplinary collaborations with knowledge and awareness of your own role and competences as a designer or architect.
The Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship programme is organised over four semesters with the following structure:
Semester 1
Collaborative Design Processes: taught by the Royal Danish Academy, for all students. This course focuses on interdisciplinary group work with one external collaborative partner.
Entrepreneurship, Theory and Finance: taught by CBS, for all students.
Strategic Design Proposal: taught by the Royal Danish Academy, for Academy students (CBS students: course at CBS).
Semester 2
Strategic Design and Consulting: taught by the Royal Danish Academy and CBS, for all students. This course focuses on interdisciplinary group work with one external collaborative partner per group.
Strategic Design, Law and Ethics: taught by CBS, for alle students.
Strategic Design Proposal: taught by the Royal Danish Academy, for Academy students (CBS students: course at CBS).
Semester 3
Strategic Design Proposal: taught by the Royal Danish Academy, for Academy students (CBS students electives/internship). This course is titled Global Perspectives, Local Positioning – and is a self-programmed assignment within the framework of the semester. Students have the opportunity to work individually or in a group, and external collaboration with a partner is encouraged.
Semester 4
Diploma: taught by the Royal Danish Academy, for Academy students. The master thesis semester is a self-programmed assignment. Students have the opportunity to work individually or in a group, and external collaboration with a partner is encouraged. Architecture students will submit a programme and a project. Design students will create a programme, and submit a design report, and a project.
Number of students
Number of students
An equal number of students admitted through the Royal Danish Academy and CBS will secure an even work environment and true collaboration.
Degree
Degree
Successful programme participants will obtain the following degrees:
Students from the Royal Danish Academy
- cand. arch/Master of Arts (MA) in Architecture - Strategic
- cand. des/ Master of Arts (MA) in Design - Strategic
CBS students
- MSs in Social Science — Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship
Language
Language
English.