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Design

Design combines architecture, engineering, and materials science in one degree, giving you the opportunity to design solutions to environmental and societal challenges.

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Course overview 

In the Design course, you will combine architecture, engineering, and materials science. The structure of the Design course is slightly different to Architecture, but the method of teaching is the same with lectures, seminars, and studio time. The Design course is structured around a series of core studio projects. The goal of each project is for you to create solutions to real-world issues. You will cover the design of physical objects, apps, artificial intelligence. and electronics.

For more information about the course and its modules, visit the University website.

 

What is it like to study Design at King’s?

Design students will have days in studio and non-studio days, where students attend lectures, which can often take up the full day. In addition, on a weekly basis students will meet with a supervisor for each of the papers in smaller groups of between three to five other students. A typical supervision is one hour long. It will cover information taught during the lectures, however students are required to think through and beyond the boundaries of the topic. At King’s, students are required to write essays in between supervisions, which are often discussed as a group. Supervisions are a forum for students to be challenged by and learn from their peers, while also allowing more in depth discussion with expert tutors. 

There could be up to three students in Design per year.

 

What do we look for in an applicant to Design?

The most successful students are motivated and curious. They are well-read and exhibit strong representational skills, which may include drawing and model-making. Design students tend to have broad interests, are knowledgeable about contemporary culture, and are able to work in an interdisciplinary way. A background in art is not essential, however those who excel on the course are extremely skilful at hand drawing and have a flair for thinking in imaginative ways.

 

Requirements

A Level: A*AA

IB: 41-42 points overall with 7, 7, 6 at Higher Level

Subject requirements: Mathematics (A* at A Level), Mathematics Analysis and Approaches Higher Level (7 at IB. If this isn’t an option at your school, please contact the College)

Admissions assessment: Yes

Written work: Portfolio (more guidance below)

 

Admissions assessment 

Shortlisted applicants are required to take a 30-minute drawing test in advance of the in-person interview. At interview, applicants will be required to present their portfolio, which is followed by a discussion based on concepts and resolution of the work, while also touching on their personal statement.

 

Written work

For your application you are required to submit a portfolio of six (maximum) A4 pages. For the interview, please bring as much additional work as you like, including sketch books and finished pieces. You do not have to limit the portfolio to your A Level work. Consider bringing GCSE work and anything that you are working on in your own time. If you have a background in Design Technology or Product Design, please include hand sketching as well as more technical drawing. There is no standard portfolio, so be expansive in your choices. Candidates tend to include (but not limited to) observational drawing, life drawing, model making, 3D modelling, sculpture, painting, and photography. Please make sure that you are confident that you will be able to show us everything that you bring during the time allocated (for portfolio about 15-20 mins including conversation).

 

Careers and graduate opportunities

A degree in Design is an entry point into a range of creative professions. Since the course addresses a number of scales (from the design of a chair to master planning cities), graduates are able to apply their skills in many sectors and the degree is highly transferable.

 

What is the best thing about studying Design at King’s?

King’s is a vibrant college at the centre of Cambridge. Students benefit from a close-knit community and additional facilities including a dedicated art room.

 

A top tip for applicants to Design at King’s 

Read widely on topics related to design, but also think about how the world around you is shaped by the built environment. Attend exhibitions and visit buildings in person where possible. Take an active interest in contemporary culture including, for example, art, music, and film. Carefully construct your portfolio so that you show a range of work, including in-progress or unfinished pieces. Become aware and develop criticality of your own artistic design and making processes. We encourage you to be able to show us both successes and failures. King’s students tend to be extremely well-rounded individuals who can speak articulately about themselves and their work.

People

A black and white image of a man with short dark hair, rectangular glasses and a black polo neck jumper

Felipe Hernandez

Bio

Felipe Hernández, Ph.D., is a Colombian-born architect living and working in the United Kingdom. He is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow Architect at King’s College Cambridge, where he also serves as Director of Studies in Architecture. He was the first Latin American to direct the Centre of Latin American Studies at Cambridge (CLAS) and is currently the Director of the M.Phil. in Architecture and Urban Studies (MAUS). His research explores the intersection between architecture and urbanism under conditions of 'coloniality', seeking relevant approaches to teaching and practicing architecture in the Americas.

Main topics of research: 

  • Architectures and Urbanisms in the Americas
  • Social Housing and Housing Design
  • Decolonial and Postcolonial Practices in Architecture and Architectural Pedagogy

Felipe's research explores the intersection between architecture and urbanism in conditions of 'coloniality', looking for pertinent approaches to teaching and practicing architecture in the Americas. Felipe has published extensively on Modern Architecture in Latin America tackling critical issues such as race, gender and socio-economic disparity since the beginning of the twentieth century.

He has published extensively on Modern Architecture in Latin America, addressing critical issues such as race, gender, and socio-economic disparity since the early twentieth century. He is the author of

Hernández, F. Bhabha sobre la arquitectura. Barcelona – Reverté. (2024) https://www.reverte.com/libro/psa-05-bhabha-sobre-la-arquitectura_155256/  

Lara, F. and F. Hernández (eds) (2021) Decolonising the Spatial History of the Americas. Austin: Center for American Architecture and Design.

Lara, F. and F. Hernández (eds) (2021) Spatial Concepts for the Americas. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Hernández, F. and A. Becerra Santacruz (eds) (2017) Marginal Urbanisms: Informal and Formal Development in Cities of Latin America. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholar Publishing. 

Hernández, F. (2010) Bhabha for Architects. London – New York: Routledge. (Translated to five languages)

Hernández, F. (2010) Beyond Modernist Masters: Latin American Architecture Today. Basel – Berlin – Boston: Birkhäuser.

His third monograph, Spaces of Coloniality (Routldge) explores the persistence of colonial principles and practices in contemporary architecture and architectural pedagogy. It focuses primarily on cities in the Andean Region of South America, introducing arguments with great relevance for the study of architecture and urbanism everywhere. He is also Lead Editor of The Routledge Companion to Critical Approaches in Race and Architecture (Routledge), a book that expands current debates about the relationship between race and architecture.

He has also recently established the Housing Design-Research Collaborative with architects at Universidad de Valle in Cali, Colombia. The collaborative started with a Summer School in 2024 with a view to develop alternative and more pertinent approaches to social housing in Colombia, and other countries in the Latin American region. 

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Felipe Hernandez

The Director of Studies for 2025-2026 is Dr Felipe Hernandez.

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