Changing Prospects in Design Education. Rupture and Ties with the Legacy of the Ulm Model

Focusing on Maldonado’s role as an educator, what surprises is the depth of thought that characterises his writings as well as his theoretical competence. Trained as an artist, Maldonado was exceptionally cultivated, endowed with great critical attitude, and passionate for design, not merely as a practice, but as a form of education. To this type of education, since the 1950s, he dedicated a large part of his career and academic endeavours, working on the development of a philosophy of design. The weight that Maldonado’s work carries within the history of design education is exemplified by the prestige of what is known as Ulm Model, a benchmark for most schools of design still today. Understanding the legacy of the Ulm School of Design (Ulm HfG) – whose training approach owes much to Maldonado – in the contemporary landscape of design education became the starting point of our investigation. A critical reading of some of Maldonado’s writings on the theory of education helped us trace the connections between the traditional models and the current reform of education in the field of design. In this respect, the end point was the conflicted relationship that the current reform movement shows to have with the old paradigm of design education. While breaking with the past, most of the schools that are leading the change prove to be rooted in the pedagogical tradition of the Ulm HfG. Shedding light on this ambivalence is the aim of our research. In addition to examining the nature of the ambivalent relationship that some world leading schools of design have with the traditional models of education, this essay gives an overview of how design education as a whole is evolving and what possible course(s) it may take in the near future.