Institute Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP)

Basel Academy of Art and Design

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The Institute of Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP) works at the intersection of education, research, knowledge production, and design mediation. It encompasses three fields of study: Fashion Design, Industrial Design, and Interior Architecture & Scenography and offers students, researchers and staff from various disciplines a lively, creative environment to explore and mediate contemporary, reflective design practices.

The Institute of Contemporary Design Practices understands design as a central area of cultural production that molds many areas of daily life and thus as an essential aspect for shaping our society. The institute sees itself as a hybrid platform, offers interchangeable study programs at both Bachelor's and Master's levels, and is connected to the school's Ph.D. programme. These tertiary education opportunities will be complemented in the coming year by design-oriented continuing education programs, which offer individual in-depth study in the field of one's practice, research, and theory. The urgent current discourses around global crises of climate and social inequality are negotiated in design-oriented focus areas such as sustainability & ecology, future-making & technology, interaction & materiality.

The ICDP's goal is to promote the plurality of perspectives and approaches and interdisciplinary exchange. With its labs, the institute offers the ideal platform for the education of current and future designers and provides space for diversity, novelty, criticality, and experimentation. Together, students and staff strive to cultivate diverse perspectives and strengthen individuals' design development and creative paths. In addition, the ICDP is an essential stakeholder in the contemporary Swiss design scene and works regionally, nationally, and internationally with numerous partners from the creative sector and the industry. In the context of these cooperations, we realize relevant research, development, and service projects.

For future-oriented training and research activities, the institute offers three labs: the Digital Integration Lab, the Design Culture Lab, and the Material@Sustainability Lab. The labs are designed as an open space for experimentation and discovery and contribute to the high design quality in teaching and research. A lively infrastructure with workshops, experts, and guest lecturers complements the institute's facilities. The ICDP is actively involved in numerous international and Swiss design and cultural events, festivals, exhibitions, fashion shows, and conferences. The results of projects, research findings, and multiple student awards are regularly disseminated through publications and digital channels.

Degree programmes

Bachelor of Arts

Fashion Design

Doing fashion is a culture, and fashion design is a cultural practice. Fashion is involved in all areas that are very important to us at the moment. Alongside a emphasis on performance and performativity, the degree programme is characterised by a focus on the body, its perception and movement, on body-based design methods and on body-knowledge.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: German
Place: Basel
Duration: 7 Semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Interior Architecture and Scenography

The degree programme offers a comprehensive education that prepares students to design urban spaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but also socially relevant and sustainable. At a time when spaces are increasingly perceived as integral components of social life and the public sphere, this degree programme provides the necessary knowledge and practical skills to create spaces that meet the demands of our present and future.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: German
Place: Basel
Duration: 6 semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Industrial Design

The degree program prepares students to design products for industrial production with independence, professionalism, and creative confidence. Aesthetics, functionality, materials, and user needs are brought together in a structured design process to create clear, meaningful, and effective solutions.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: German
Place: Basel
Duration: 6 semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Master of Arts

Masterstudio Industrial Design

The Masterstudio Industrial Design programme is positioned around three current research focal points: Digital Integration, Design Cultures, and Circular Design. Discourses on global crises such as climate change and social inequality provide the framework for concrete research questions and design solutions around sustainability and ecology, future-shaping and technology, interaction and materiality.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: English
Place: Basel
Duration: 3 to 4 Semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Masterstudio Fashion Design

The way we dress is an effective form of non-verbal communication that can convey a variety of messages about our identity, including our cultural background and personal values. In the Masterstudio Fashion Design, students embark on a creative journey to explore the intersection of cultural identity and innovation in fashion.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: English
Place: Basel
Duration: 3 to 4 Semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Masterstudio Scenography

In the Masterstudio Scenography, students develop the ability to confidently translate challenging content into accessible spatial images and develop staged spaces with narrative quality.

Studying mode: Full-time
Teaching language: English
Place: Basel
Duration: 3 to 4 Semester
Next start: 20.9.2027

Projects (DE)

Projects Industrial Design

Projects Fashion Design

Projects Interior Architecture and Scenography

Labs

The labs are designed as open spaces for experimentation and cognition and contribute to the high quality of design in teaching and research.
The ICDP Institute has the following laboratories for research activities:

Design Culture Lab
Circular Design Lab
Digital Integration Lab
metaLAB

Research

Research at the Institute Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP) is directly linked to the question of the relevance and potential of design in transforming living environments. In basic research, design thinking and action in existing systems and processes are examined from a holistic perspective and transferred to scenarios in which the role of design becomes effective. In application-oriented research, new fields of action for urgent challenges in social coexistence and work are developed in cooperation with external research partners. We work together with universities and companies from industry and creative industries in Switzerland as well as with international research partners.

Current Projects

Peva Project - driving gender equality in medicine

The Peva Project investigates how patient-centred and gender-sensitive design can improve gynaecological examinations. Through the development and evaluation of a novel speculum, the project explores the relationship between autonomy, comfort, and medical device design.

Institute: Institute of Contempory Design Practices
Research field: Human and planetary health

Glacial Sensibilities

A multimodal ethnography on environmental sensing that merges design and anthropological knowledge through a focus on cryosphere science.

Institute: Institute of Contempory Design Practices
Research field: Human and planetary health

Commons of the Alps – An Open Archive for Handicraft, Tradition, and Innovation

A Design-Commons is to be created for the Alpine region that digitally archives traditional and innovative craft knowledge. Unlike conventional archives, it will be open, freely accessible, and participatory. We are focusing on the period from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day, with women receiving appropriate representation.

Institute: Institute of Contempory Design Practices
Research field: Surprise

Head of Research ICDP

Prof. Dr. Dr. Aylin Yildirim Tschoepe

Professorin Design Anthropologie

Phone: +41 61 228 44 24 (Direct)
E-Mail: aylin.tschoepe@fhnw.ch

Research Team

Publications (DE)

LOOK Book ICDP, INSIGHTS NO.3

DOING FASHION PAPER NO.7

Der Mensch. Das Ereignis.

Date: 7.1.2021
Institute: Institute of Contempory Design Practices

Im Besengebiet: Publikation und Ausstellung über die Kunst gebundener Handbesen von Flavia Brändle

In ihrer neuen, gemeinsam mit Margrit Linder herausgegebenen Publikation «Im Besengebiet» würdigt Flavia Brändle, Dozentin an der HGK Basel, die Handwerkskunst gebundener Handbesen – zwischen Tradition, Alltag und globalem Designvergleich.

Date: 30.6.2025
Institute: Institute of Contempory Design Practices

Contact & Team

Prof. Werner Baumhakl

Institutsleiter ICDP / Studiengangleiter BA Industrial Design

Phone: T +41 61 228 41 06
E-Mail: werner.baumhakl@fhnw.ch

Team Institute Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP)

Getting there

Public transport
The campus is easy to reach by public transport. The stop Freilager on BLT line 11 is immediately in front of the Campus (from Bahnhof SBB in direction Aesch)

IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Tram replacement service 18 May to 12 December 2026:
Due to construction work / track renewal on tram line 11, the Freilager stop will not be served by trams between 18 May and 12 December 2026.
Replacement buses will run between the Dreispitz stop and the Freilager stop. The temporary bus stops are signposted and are located a few metres from the tram stops.Up-to-date information on the BLT tram line can be found here: BLT-Tramlinie 11 (in German)

By car
Leave the motorway A2 at the junction Basel-St. Jakob and follow the sign Dreispitz. Approaching from Münchensteinerstrasse enter the Dreispitz complex through Gate 13 and park your car in one of the public car parks (Ruchfeld or Leimgrube). When setting your satnav, please note that the Freilager complex is part of the municipality of Münchenstein, Canton Basel-Landschaft.

Access by car for people with disabilities
Choose the access via Florenz-Strasse in the direction of the High-rise building (Building D). To lower the bollard at the gates of the campus please ring the bell. You will be connected to our reception in Building D.

Postal address

FHNW Academy of Art and Design
Institute Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP)
Postfach (P.O. Box)
CH-4002 Basel

Visitor and delivery addresses

Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW
Institute Contemporary Design Practices (ICDP)

Industrial Design BA degree programme
Oslo-Strasse 3, Building: A 0.13
4142 Münchenstein b. Basel
T +41 61 228 40 44
F +41 61 228 42 87
M info.industrialdesign.hgk@fhnw.ch

Interior Design and Scenography BA degree programme
Oslo-Strasse 3, Building: A 2.10
4142 Münchenstein b. Basel
T +41 61 228 40 55
F +41 61 228 42 78
M info.in3.hgk@fhnw.ch

Fashion Design BA degree programme
Oslo-Strasse 3, Building: A 3.14
4142 Münchenstein b. Basel
T +41 61 228 40 99
F +41 61 228 43 02
M info.modedesign.hgk@fhnw.ch

Masterstudio Design (MA) degree programme
Freilager-Platz 1, Tower: D 4.05
4142 Münchenstein b. Basel
T +41 61 228 40 66
F +41 61 467 48 85
M info.iig.hgk@fhnw.ch