Master in Furniture Design

Discover the reality of furniture design and the production of avant-garde objects. With the MA in Furniture Design you will learn to design furniture items that resolve needs in domestic environments, companies and public spaces, working with new materials and state-of-the-art technologies.

How to apply

Presentation

The discipline of design or furniture design displays a very particular set of characteristics and requires knowledge of a distinctive language and references, as well as a code that allows uses and attitudes to be effectively conveyed. We need to design and produce the objects that give shape to our domestic relationships and professional environments. Through an immersion in the past and present reality of furniture design, we lay the foundations for innovating in a leading industry in the production of avant-garde objects; one with its own fashions and trends.

The Master in Furniture Design addresses the design of these objects for two settings: the home (habitat) and social, collective spaces (contract), providing students with a comprehensive vision of the industry. In habitat we will look at furniture for domestic spaces, while contract explores the specific furniture used in facilities, companies and urban communities and elements. During the master you will undertake professional placements in furniture design, providing you with strategic training adapted to the real, present and future needs of the industry.

The student profile for this master are professionals in the field of product design, interior space design, architecture or product engineering, interested in entering the furniture industry.

Access and Admission Requirements: Students with degrees in Product Design, Interior Design, Engineering, Architecture or Fine Arts. An ability to use the basic design and communication software is required, as well as knowledge of 2D and/or 3D software.

At Elisava you can take master and postgraduate courses of different degrees of specialisation that combine theoretical knowledge, reflection, experimentation, and practical projects. Find the design master you are looking for.

Where to study furniture design?

Elisava is one of the most nationally and internationally recognized university schools of design and engineering. Our particular teaching system, based on interdisciplinary knowledge and the practice of real projects, makes possible the training of professionals adapted to the real needs, present and future, that emerge from the sector. Therefore, our school is the ideal place to study furniture design.


Objectives

  • Learning about the work of ​​technical offices and assess specific client needs.
  • Incorporating techniques and methodologies that bring together conceptual and constructive aspects.
  • Identifying innovative objects or solutions in furniture design.
  • Gaining advanced knowledge of the industry and the leading manufacturers and designers, as well as the current lines and trends, predicting future scenarios and uses.
  • Understanding and dominating the industry’s specific formal language.
  • Determining materials, technical solutions and processes, devising feasible and realistic solutions.
  • Learning from the perspective of both industrially designed and customised furniture.

Highlights

MA in Furniture Design programme

1 Furniture and the workspace

1. 1 Typologies, areas of work and representation
1.2 The symbolic meaning of furniture in the workspace, waiting areas and reception rooms.
1.3 Technical seating, the ancillary industry, materials and manufacturing techniques, seating ergonomics, systems for work and filing desks.

2 Furniture and restaurants, lodging and residential spaces

2.1 Typologies, reception and welcome areas, customised furnishings
2.2 Furniture in hotels and residential spaces: uses and typologies adapted from the domestic environment
2.3 Technical fabric in contract

3 Furniture and the urban space

3.1 Typologies, materials and maintenance
3.2 Customised projects
3.3 Furniture as an organiser of public space and singular element

4 Furniture in new multi-use public spaces

4.1 Lighting
4.2 Materials and technologies
4.3 Sustainability and ecodesign

5 Historical introduction of furniture as a driver of innovation

5.1 Historical introduction of furniture based on the different professional profiles
5.2 Typological introduction: research project

6 Domestic furniture

6.1 Related trade shows in Europe
6.2 Trends in the world of furniture and new sales and distribution channels
6.3 Visits to showrooms, talks by industry leaders and furniture designers

7 Customised furniture

7.1 How to develop customised furniture: limitations and opportunities
7.2 Limited edition furniture

8 Constructive criteria, materials and technologies

8.1 Timber
8.2 Other materials
8.3 Ancillary industries
8.4 Design of upholstered furniture, injected upholstered furniture, the ancillary upholstery industry

If you want to know more about the Master in Furniture Design download the brochure here:
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Do you want to know more about the Masters’ School?

Each academic year, students with very diverse professional and cultural profiles of more than 80 nationalities from all over the world attend their master’s or postgraduate training at Elisava. We want to promote connections and networks among students beyond the context of each master’s degree to promote the exchange of knowledge through very diverse projects: we organize interdisciplinary workshops and conferences; transdisciplinary projects with students from several master’s degrees; collaborations with companies, institutions and NGOs…

Interdisciplinary workshops Collaborations with companies, institutions and NGOs Elisava Masters’ Talks and lectures Elisava Alumni

Masters’ Scholarships

Do you want to study the MA in Furniture Design at Elisava? In this section you will be able to check all the information on the annual call for scholarships, which recognize, reward and disseminate the talent and excellence of future master’s students.