The Shape of European Design

The Institute of European Design

By Serena Corvaglia

Milan, Rome, Turin, Barcelona, Madrid, Sao Paulo, and Venice so far. Shanghai next. The IED, the Institute of European Design, is one of the most fashionable and modern institutes in Europe, which is constantly expanding and exporting its concept of creativity. Advertising, communication, fashion, and design: students and professors at the IED freely express ideas and arts and apply them to marketing and business. The most recent residence of the IED is “Altamira,” an 18th century palace in Madrid.

Founded in 1966, the IED has been home to brainstorming sessions on design, communication, and visual arts, formed by little crazy minds that have been flexibly educated on a pathway that blends “knowing” and “knowing how.” Theoretical lessons are applied in order to provide the acquirement of basic cultural references, while workshops and exercises dip the student into the real business. Pragmatism and professionalism are the key words. The IED is very sensitive to the current market demands for competent professional and constantly updates study curricula taught by selected professionals from specified fields. Indeed, what makes the IED powerful in Europe is its partnership with foremost enterprises in the field of design, visual arts, and advertising.

In almost forty years, the IED has trained 70,000 students from 85 different countries. Almost 300 courses are offered for each specific level and age, from three-year courses to masters and summer courses, all divided into the appealing sections of the IED Moda Lab (for fashion), IED Design, IED Visual Arts, and IED Communication. Due to its territorial growth, the IED plays a lead role as Culture and European Design Ambassador, participating in numerous cultural, economic, and environmental matters, as well as organizing exhibitions on "Made in Italy" and Italian Design, seen both in Italy and abroad in collaboration with public and private associations and Italian Cultural Institutes.

IED President, Francesco Morelli comments, "Over decades of practice, we have dug into knowledge, analyzed all processes of doing, and verified theories. Now we fully understand what it means to carry out an idea right up to its concrete realization, and we teach how to do this.”

The next step is the opening of an IDE in Shanghai, which is, as Francesco Morelli says, “the biggest challenge for a European Institute.” With the IED’s track record, the Shanghai school should be taking shape very quickly.

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