Transversal Design is a research-oriented, transdisciplinary master's programme. On this programme students develop practices that include–– alternative media, speculative models, practices of care, tools for solidarity and radical proposals for worlds in transition.
Transversal Design is a research-oriented, transdisciplinary master's programme. On this programme students develop practices that include–– alternative media, speculative models, practices of care, tools for solidarity and radical proposals for worlds in transition. Our design focus is not primarily about objects or products but on processes, modes of relating, questions of environmental-social justice, and the critical infrastructures on which we collectively depend. You will work on self-led projects mentored and supported in the Critical Media Lab and HyperWerk at the Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM). Guided by an expert team and internationally recognized visiting lecturers and researchers you can design, film, draw, program, publish, code, play, build, research, organize, or write. Shaping practices around the important questions of why, how, and for whom in theory and practice, in organizing the futures-we-need.
You are interested in global-societal contexts and are open to norm-critical experimentation, design justice, critical media and collective self-organization. Study with us if you are interested in designing exemplary scenarios, speculative experiences, radical proposals, and are open to collaborative togetherness and experimentally guided work.
The master's programme Transversal Design is aimed at people who want to rethink processes, relationships and infrastructures on which humanity collectively depends and design future ways of living. Individuals with a bachelor's degree in design, art or architecture are addressed, as are applicants with an affinity for design and those interested in design from fields such as anthropology, urban planning, social work, economics, cultural and media studies, natural sciences, computer science and environmental sciences.
Goals and benefits
The master's programme Transversal Design aims at a design practice that works across disciplinary boundaries, questions hierarchies of meaning and drives transformation processes. Thinking and acting transversally means considering social, political, economic and ecological processes in their complex contexts, media, interactions and interdependencies. You will develop a socially relevant question, work on it individually and collectively through different practices of transversal design, and create a public sphere for your results.
Career prospects
You will not be guided by predefined job profiles, but will learn to apply your ideas, methods and skills in different contexts and areas of application. The master's programme in Transversal Design also qualifies you for future fields of work especially those that are dealing with the green and digital transition. As an agent of transversal practice you will have skills to move across domains, generate ideas, communicate, publish, reflect and transform. Through the direct connection to the research activities of IXDM, the Master's programme equally prepares you for a career in teaching and research.
With its studios, labs and central campus workshops, the HGK Basel offers ideal conditions for combining making, curiosity, sustainable practices and digital skills. In addition, all students have their own workspace available around the clock. You are in direct exchange with the students, teachers and researchers in the HyperWerk and Critical Media Lab.
Information on admission, aptitude assessment and admission to the study programme
Academical qualifications Admission to the aptitude assessment normally requires one of the following qualifications:
A Bachelor’s degree in Design or a related field of study.
A similar, equivalent degree in Design (at BA level pursuant to the “Dublin Descriptors").
If an applicant shows promising design potential, lateral entry from a different discipline is possible; in this case, please contact the Head of the degree programme.
Language of tuition International students are welcome to apply for the Master’s degree programme. The language of tuition is English and partly German (B2 level or equivalent).
To apply for a place at the HGK Basel, the required documents must be submitted by deadline 15.03.2025. Please send the specific enquiries to email address.
Here you will find answers to organizational, administrative and legal questions all about studying -->
Handout for the admission procedure and the aptitude assessment 2024 MA Transversal Design (PDF in german /english) Note: Study regulations Transversal Design, Master (online from September 2024)
Further Information Transversal Design MA
International students can find further information on the website of the International Office of the HGK Basel.
Process Design BA at HyperWerk
Everything in our world is designed: from our everyday objects and the architecture of our cities to the structures and systems that affect how we interact. As ...
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)
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.
The buildings of the HGK Basel are accessible by wheelchair, stroller, and for people with walking difficulties. The entrance to the highrise building (Building D) is at ground level, the studio building (Building A) can be reached via a ramp. There is at least one lift in both buildings.
Access by car for people with disabilities: See Gender-neutral toilets: See ‘Getting there‘.
Toilets for people with disabilities:
Highrise building (Building D): Ground floor to 8th floor in the centre of the building Studio building (Building A): Ground floor to 3rd floor, southern section of main corridor
Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) Transversal Design Freilager-Platz 1 Postfach CH-4002 Basel
Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) Transversal Design Freilager-Platz 1, Hochhaus: D 4.05 4142 Münchenstein / Basel
Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel FHNW Transversal Design (MA) IXDM Freilager-Platz 1, Postfach 4002 Basel
room D 4.05
Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM)
FHNW University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern SwitzerlandBasel Academy of Art and Design,
Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM), Highrise: D. 3.01Freilager-Platz 1CH - 4142 Münchenstein near Basel
