Institute of Advanced Design Studies
About
The Institute of Advanced Design Studies (ADES) is an independent school of design offering study programmes in sustainability for postgraduate students and professionals. Our programmes are based on a transdisciplinary approach to sustainability and we accept students from all backgrounds.
Introduction
Introduction
The Institute of Advanced Design Studies (ADES) is an independent school of design offering study programmes in sustainability for postgraduate students and professionals. Our programmes are based on a transdisciplinary approach to sustainability and we accept students from all backgrounds. We recognise the complexity and multi-disciplinarity of the challenges we face today with climate change, environmental degradation, work-life and the changes in global society and that a new type of expertise is needed to tackle these challenges.
ADES is built to train a new type of designer, equipped with Design Thinking tools and design process tools, versed to work in transdisciplinary teams, while empowered to employ their own discipline, be it in design, chemistry or bioengineering, to solve the multi-disciplinary problems of today. Instead of having a traditional faculty, ADES works with guest moderators who are global thought leaders from a diversity of disciplines, from designers to biologists, engineers, and philosophers, to achieve holistic approaches appropriate to solving the problems of today.
The ADES Experience
At ADES, you will not only learn; you will work with our guest moderators - influential leaders from around the world, who believe that it is time to engage Design Thinking to solve global challenges and advance designs that will benefit humanity and the environment. Intensive interaction with these experts in the ADES studio will allow you to collaborate as part of an immersive learning experience with the shared ambition of shaping comprehensive design-based solutions.
Global trends show more co-lab types of education, by-passing the silo-types we are accustomed to. In the ADES studio, we work much like a co-lab. We offer nature and human value-driven design education, coupled with technological and scientific advancements of today. We work to complement existing education programmes and to increase educational diversity for sustainability across disciplines. The ADES studio works with design as a Productive Science, Design Philosophy and Methodology. Our courses bring theory to bear on practice; to inspire and to influence the actions taken in traditional practices of design, architecture, technology, engineering, as well as other fields where material outputs are produced.
Our Location
The Institute is based at Art Quarter Budapest (AQB), an old brewery on the banks of the Danube river, turned into an international contemporary art center. Located in the vibrant city of Budapest, the Art Quarter hosts inspiring indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces, several buildings with workshop studios and residencies. ADES Studio at AQB operates as an open space where we accommodate lectures and workshops, as well as group work and private studies. The studio is always available to our students outside session hours, for research and module project work. The students also have access to common rooms equipped with a kitchen and relaxing areas. The multi-cultural and creative atmosphere of the Art Quarter brings people together to think, create and to collaborate.
ADES People and Network
ADES is a relatively small organisation but with strong relationships within the global creative and environmental industry working with a network of partners within design, technology, biotechnology, art and other disciplines in Europe and gloabaly. This invaluable network provides ADES students with collaboration and employment opportunities after graduation.
As an ADES graduate, your skills set will be enriched with Design Thinking for Sustainability applicable to solving the multidisciplinary problems of today. ADES graduates will form alumni - a global network of Thought Leaders in Sustainability, dedicated to working with design-based nature & human-value driven solutions.
Why Study with ADES and why NOW?
The focus on sustainability today is enormous. The efforts around the world are timely, as climate change and human footprint in the environment are manifesting themselves on a scale we simply are not prepared for. The call to “act now” is urgent, indeed. ADES was built to respond to this urgency. But not with more green products, systems and services, but with an idea that we need “heads-on before our hands-on” to arrive at truly radical solutions. The idea that we cannot solve our problems with the same tools that created them. New Design Thinking for Sustainability is needed that informs the action so urgently called for.
Benefits of Studying With ADES
1. Central European LocationBudapest, the capital of Hungary is a historic and eclectic city with a rich and varied cultural life. You can find architectural treasures, numerous museums, an array of healing thermal waters and a nightlife that is unrivaled in Eastern and Central Europe. It is also a student-centric and affordable city, especially in Western European terms. | 2. Specialists in Design for Sustainability StudiesWe are a pioneering, independent school of design dedicated to guiding our students towards becoming Thought Leaders in Sustainability. |
3. World-class guest moderatorsADES students work with widely recognised scientists, scholars, designers and innovators who are at the forefront of changing our society through their work. | 4. Creative, Inclusive Learning EnvironmentBeing a truly transdisciplinary education, ADES learning environment allows experimentation, creativity and radical innovation within the study methods as well as outputs, while being open to cultural and disciplinary diversity that accompanies multi-disciplinary groups. |
5. One-on-one tutoringADES experienced tutors are always available for discussions and for providing guidance to individual students as well as groups. The ADES studio functions akin to any small product design studios, co-labs or think tanks where students, moderators and tutors have equal access to knowledge-generation activities and where the goal is the co-generation of knowledge. | 6. Reality-Focused CoursesOur role in global education is to pioneer in design education for sustainability for multidisciplinary students. We work to complement existing education programmes and to increase educational diversity for sustainability across disciplines. In our courses students learn beyond making greener design; they research how to adapt our current organisations and systems to a world lead by principles of ecology, sustainability, and resilience. |
7. International Student CommunityOur students are creative and curious, already have a skill base and a degree in a discipline, and are looking to advance their skills and specialise in Sustainability. Our classes are formed of individuals of all cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, for instance in product-service design, architecture, technology engineering, also graduates of natural sciences, as well as artists, anthropologists, and philosophers. | 8. Co-lab type of educationRather than merely learning a new skill, ADES students work in groups and together as a team, to co-create new thought methods which can be applied to future practices in design, architecture, technology and social development. The guest moderators and lecturers bring the latest state of the art knowledge of their fields, therefore always maintaining the relevance of ADES work to solving the most pressing problems of the time. In addition, ADES extra-curricula workshops, summer schools, and study trips enable new cultural and disciplinary perspectives beyond the ADES studio. |
11. Design thinking skills for radical sustainabilityADES students will be able to move beyond applying business-as-usual design solutions for human desirability and think not in human-, product, or business-centered ways, but they will understand that the most critical constraint in all design endeavors begets from radical sustainability, as in sustaining our existence together with the existence of our planet. Our mission is to transmit a transdisciplinary design education so that our students can contribute to a thriving environment. | 12. Study tripsThe course programme includes study trips where the students can gain external cultural and disciplinary experiences. |
Location
Budapest, Hungary. ADES Studio is based at Art Quarter Budapest.
Photo: AQB
Website
https://ades.design/