The international studios
The international studios of L’École de design Nantes Atlantique
L'École de design Nantes Atlantique has been exporting internationally for several years, with the opening of its studios in China (2008), Brazil (2017), Canada (2018) and Benin (2019). These international studios are backed by local partners (higher education institutions or incubators). Every year, the studios welcome students for a long immersion period to complete their International Design Strategy master's level degree. The school also offers this program at Studio France in Nantes, which welcomes many international students who come to study in France.
The international vocation of L’École de design Nantes Atlantique
Back in 1999, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique decided to deploy an ambitious strategy of global outreach. Since then, international development has been part of the school's DNA. While the answers to users' problems are local, design practice is part of a global context that takes into account the major global issues of today and tomorrow:
- Economic interdependence,
- Societal advances,
- Cultural influence,
- And of course, the great ecological and environmental challenges.
With its international studios, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique allows future designers to confront realities different from those experienced in France.
Learning design abroad: the opportunity for a long immersion period
The international studios of L'École de design Nantes Atlantique welcome students in the International Design Strategy master's level degree program to validate the 5-year degree in design (RNCP niveau 7 - Fiche 36106), recognized and approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
5 good reasons to do your master's level degree in an international studio
- Leave your comfort zone and acquire more independence and maturity by confronting a different environment and a new culture. A two-year long immersion abroad is a catalyst of emotions that you must learn to manage.
- Operating in a strong intercultural context in everyday life, but also during the training, helps the student to appropriate the codes and customs of the host country.
- Develop an open-mindedness essential to the design profession and confront other visions of design: learn to deconstruct your prejudices and develop empathy.
- Discover a reality in the field with issues specific to the place of immersion: a designer must be able to question and challenge the solutions found to the problems addressed.
- Open the doors to an international career: the studio programs are deliberately very professional. Students develop their ability to adapt, which is absolutely essential in design, and they become highly sought after by companies.
Discover the international studios
While the degree to be prepared is the same in each studio, each has its own unique characteristics, both in terms of environment and context.
- Opening date: 2008
- City: Shanghai
- Partner site: Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University
- Topics covered: cohabitation between traditions and technologies, architecture and heritage, changing economy
- Opening date: 2017
- City: São Paulo
- Site: Mackenzie Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning
- Topics covered: urban change in a context of population density and social disparity, cultural heritage, environmental issues
- Opening date: 2018
- City: Montréal
- Partner site: Centech incubator (Centech - medical technologies, microelectronics, intelligent objects)
- Topics covered: entrepreneurship, technological innovations, creative industries
- Opening date: 2019
- City: Nantes
- Topics covered: within this program, students work on projects linked to the 3 main topics: interculturality, international and interdisciplinarity. They work in design management projects, linked to european partners or projects proposed by the school's Design Labs.
- Opening date: 2023
- City: Cotonou
- Partner sites: Africa Design School, Sèmè City
- Topics covered: urban planning, societal design, digital transition
For 25 years, L'École de design Nantes Atlantique has enabled future French designers to train abroad and future international designers to train in Nantes.
Since 1999 and the deployment of its ambitious strategy of global outreach, international development has been part of the DNA of L'École de design Nantes Atlantique.