Over the last 25 years, design and material culture have moved from the margins of academic enquiry to the centre stage. Social historians, anthropologists and sociologists increasingly direct their attention to the role that things play in lives of people and societies, both in the past and in the present.

History of Design at the RCA has been a moving force in this development. We pioneered the study of design and decorative art in early historical periods, developing a specialist pathway on our MA programme in ‘Renaissance Decorative Arts and Culture’. With our new specialism in ‘Asian Design History’, we have also extended the subject from its traditional Western European and North American contexts. We also take a strong interest in the present, with our students working closely alongside tomorrow’s designers working in the studios at the RCA.

This means that our department is the meeting place of a wide range of historical, material and geographical interests. It is an exciting and stimulating environment in which to learn.

We operate in close conjunction with specialist tutors based in the Research Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, who form a bridge to the collections and the curatorial staff of the world’s leading museum of design and the decorative arts. The museum context also reflects our teaching philosophy: we believe that artefacts themselves constitute important historical evidence revealing much about the societies which used and made them. Our close relations with the museum and with the studios at the RCA mean that teaching with and through objects is an everyday activity.

Download a PDF version of the History of Design Department Handbook.

A copy of the full RCA Handbook and Regulations 2009 is available here.

Open Days for 2011/12 applicants will be held in autumn 2010 and spring 2011. Please check back in early autumn for full details.

+44 (0)20 7590 4482
hod@rca.ac.uk