On Thursday 04 May I had a rendezvous with Australian expatriate designer and educator Ben Walker. Ben kindly invited me to travel with him to Reims to participate in his design class at Ecole Supérieure d’Art et Design de Reims (Reims ESAD) – the Reims School of Art and Design.

The lecturing staff at the school are all professional design practioners.

The students I met with were in their third year of study with the potential to continue for another two years for more advanced learning.

It was interesting to observe the design education practices employed by the school. The teaching workspace and curriculum appeared to be relatively unstructured with students tackling a mix of projects from a range of disciplines. Two and three dimensional design projects were worked on by all students and the results were engaging. The two disciplines often blended together to uncover fascinating processes and solutions.

The student workspace was a healthy laboratory for formal play with student desks covered with all sorts of material experiments. The workshop was a space where students could further experiment and realise their ideas.