Design

The Design Department was initially established as an independent section in 1969 at the “Nicolae Grigorescu” Institute of Fine Arts, within the Faculty of Decorative Arts. From 1990 onwards, it functioned within the Academy of Art, later renamed the National University of Arts. The Department thus claims the artistic tradition established by its founding professors: the architect Paul Bortnowski, the painters Ion Bitzan and Vladimir Șetran, and the graphic artist Hainoroc Constantinescu.

Over the past two decades, the Department’s pedagogical project has established a balanced relationship between humanistic cultural-artistic fields and technical-economic domains. Design education has been—and continues to be—multidisciplinary, addressing in a holistic and flexible manner, adapted to technological, social, and environmental challenges, the design of objects, environments, and graphic signs.

The achievements of the Design Department over more than fifty years of activity include industrial design concepts, participation in competitions and cultural and scientific exchanges, national and international exhibitions and awards, as well as the involvement of Romanian designers in major international projects and professional organisations. Examples from the history of design creation in Romania—including pioneering achievements from the interwar period, such as aircraft design, locomotive design, and furniture design—constitute solid and necessary premises for contemporary original design practice.

The mission of the three main design directions—graphic design, product design, and environmental design—is to provide students with:

1. Access to a range of qualifications enabling career choices within the creative industries, including industrial, environmental, and graphic design and advertising agencies and studios, publishing houses, or architectural practices;
2. A balanced educational experience integrating technological, visual, human, marketing, and social aspects required in design practice;
3. Multidisciplinary education.

Beyond these objectives, the Department’s mission is to offer students:

1. A methodical approach to bi- and/or three-dimensional design, based on a structured design process;
2. The enhancement of skills related to the conceptual grounding and communication of design ideas;
3. Opportunities for hands-on project development, including models and prototypes, alongside an understanding of material properties and processing techniques and technologies;
4. The development of creativity, theoretical and practical knowledge, and the skills necessary for professional design practice;
5. The cultivation of research abilities;
6. The development of the capacity to synthesise and apply knowledge holistically, acquired throughout the course of study;
7. The attainment of an advanced level of creativity and originality.