Kleber and Associates praises Cranbrook Academy of Art’s 3D Design program for teaching spatial and architectural awareness in furniture design. The school’s website states that as post-modernism evolves, an increasing awareness to meet the aesthetic demands of the human eye in multi-dimensional objects is important. Cranbrook offers students an experimental laboratory to explore these needs in furniture design and to foster the skills of those who will create the next big furniture design trend. Cranbrook requires all students to be full-time and meet a minimum of 45 hours of studio work, lectures, research and discussions.
Included in this list, SCAD is the only academic member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council and has won several accolades in the arts community, like the 2009 Best International Furniture Design Program and the Young & Design Competition. The furniture design program at SCAD teaches modern manufacturing technology and mentors students in a hands-on program that helps them create functional, stylish furniture suitable for display and sale. Course subjects include Computer Aided Product Design, Materials & Techniques, Industrial Design Idea Visualization and many more core classes.
If you want your work exhibited in domestic and international shows, Rhode Island School of Design partners with external research groups that show student work. This school makes the list for its emphasis on pushing students to research and investigate materials and relate to important questions that designers are asking today. As technology advances, new materials and methods surface that can be utilized for furniture design. RISD pushes students to stay up to speed in this ever-evolving genre. Students who demonstrate these skills get to showcase their work on the international stage and, perhaps, make their name known to the art world.
Pratt makes the list for their industrial design program that includes furniture and offers students exciting summer programs in Copenhagen and Amsterdam. The school’s master’s program in Industrial Design is ranked fourth nationally by Design Intelligence. Faculty members are working design professionals who specialize in furniture, lighting, architecture and a number of other arenas. Students work in furniture studios in which they learn design and develop a comprehension of aesthetics while creating objects that exhibit their knowledge and respect for the industry.