Master’s Programme in Spatial Design

Nadia Smedeland, Spatial Design, graduated 2022

You will explore and design spaces and interiors as well as furniture and objects in spatial contexts. In your studies, you relate to use and function, experiences and atmospheres, the past, present and future. The field of interior architecture and furniture design is studied in-depth, and you will meet and formulate issues and needs linked to sustainability and different societal contexts. The education aims to strengthen your ability to see and connect larger and smaller contexts. You move between different scales and approach issues in an exploratory, experimental, critical and reflective way.

Private and public spaces, interior as well as exterior, are interconnected, and historically, ideologically and socially, the relationship and boundaries between them change. Today, the boundaries between private and public spaces are blurred – public spaces become private and vice versa. During your studies, you will investigate connections and interactions between private and public with focus on spaces and/or furniture.

By combining artistic methods, digital and traditional techniques, experimental explorations and critical reflections, you will develop projects and scenarios, in different scales and contexts. You will train and develop the ability to manage your own projects independently. During your studies, you will learn different ways to test and communicate your ideas, which can range from experimental and material processes, visual imaginations and theoretical speculations to the implementation of scenarios and prototypes. You will also develop in-depth understanding of the aesthetic, cultural and social meanings of interiors. You will work in studios, in workshops, on site and undertake field studies.

The education encourages and supports you to formulate your own professional role, and to reflect and critically examine the field and the profession based on the urgent issues society is facing today. 

Language of instruction
All teaching, tutoring, and examinations are conducted in English.

Credits and form of study
120 credits (2 years), full-time, daytime, on campus.

You will work in studios, workshops, on site and conduct field studies. You will work individually or in groups. As a student on the programme, you will have access to a personal workspace at the school.

Degree
Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Design, Spatial Design.

After graduation
The Master’s programme prepares students for a professional career and third-cycle studies.

If you already have a Bachelor's degree in Interior Architecture and Furniture Design from Konstfack, you can obtain the professional title of interior architect from the Swedish Association of Architects after completing the master's programme.

Specific requirements and selection
Bachelor's degree of Fine Arts in Design, Interior Architecture and Furniture Design (equivalent to a Swedish Bachelor's degree of at least 180 credits), or the equivalent. And proficiency in English equivalent to Swedish upper secondary school course English 6/English B. Read more about English language requirements here.

The selection is made on artistic grounds and is based on assessment of artistic portfolio, declaration of intent and interview. Read more about requirements and selection here.

Assessment of applicant assignments
In addition to applying via www.antagning.se, you must submit applicant assignments (portfolios/files) to Konstfack's website. If you are applying for more than one programme at Konstfack, you must submit applicant assignments (portfolios/files) for each programme you apply for. Read more about how to submit work samples. 

The artistic assessment is carried out by a special assessment group consisting of professors, teachers, students and representatives from the professional field.

In the first step an assessment is made on an artistic portfolio and on the demonstrated ability to design artistically, to approach a design task in an explorative and reflective way and in relation to questions society faces today. We are also interested to see expertise in making, demonstrated through digital and analogue experiments, as much as technical skills and levels of craftsmanship.

In the second step, a selected number of applicants are called to an interview, in which the declaration of intent to attend the programme, the applicant's ability to reflect on their own artistic approach in relation to questions society faces today, are discussed in relation to previously handed in portfolios. After this interview, a final assessment is established. Read more about artistic assessment here.

Applicant assignment for the 2025 autumn admission

Your portfolio must be submitted digitally according to the instructions below. The samples of your work must describe results from studies and/or works that you want to refer to. If any sample is not completely your own work, this must be made clear and you must clearly indicate which sections you have created in such a group work. If using AI-generated images or other AI techniques, describe how and in which parts of your work this has been applied.

Your application must include the following two (2) compulsory sections:

1. Your own selection of works
Send us documentation of works that you have produced on your own. You can also present work that has been done by a group. If you present group work you have to specify precisely what your contribution has been. You may have produced the works during your Bachelor’s programme, an internship or while you have been working professionally. You may also include three sketches, paintings and/or sculptures if you want to.

For us to be able to assess your way of working from the beginning to final proposal, it is required that you present this for at least three (3) of the works that you submit. You may, for example, present different types of sketches (some need to be made by hand), renderings, studies, photographs of models, models in context, films and/or other images that show how the final proposal evolved. Explain them with texts in which you describe, for instance, your starting point, intention, task and other aspects of your thought processes during your work.

All of the samples you present should be assembled to form one PDF file of no more than twenty (20) pages in A3 landscape format. Arrange your sketches, drawings, photographs and films etc. on these pages. (Films should be represented in your portfolio by one image from the film and its title. The actual films are submitted as separate files.)

The first page must contain a table of contents covering every work in the portfolio. The table of contents should offer a clear summary of the samples of your work submitted with thumbnail images for each of them. The table of contents will be used by the assessment group to get an overview when discussing the works. Give your PDF file a name using the following format “Surname-Forename-1.pdf”.

The samples in your portfolio must demonstrate your ability to present spatiality through, for example:
- a drawing/3D object that you consider shows spatialities (space).
- drawings/3D-objects that you consider show movement, direction and scale.
Your portfolio must also demonstrate your ability to make drawings and understand them by presenting, for example:
- scale drawings in the technique of your choice (freehand, digital media) of any object/room/spatiality/project you choose.

2. Declaration of intent and CV
In your declaration of intent, which has to be written in English, you describe why you want to attend the Master’s programme in Spatial Design.

Describe a study, project or interest and how you want to work with developing and delving more deeply into this during the Master's programme. Explain how this work relates specifically to the subject area and on the relevance to issues in society at large. Describe what you hope to work with after your degree and what contexts you seek to operate in. Also, please present any questions about the programme that you would like to ask in the event of an interview.
Write about two (2) A4 pages, (4000 characters including spaces).

Submit a CV (A4 portrait format), in which you list all your study programmes, work-experience and other information that you think is interesting in your application to us. Please note that the CV will not be used for selection on artistic ground, but solely as a reference for discussions during a potential interview. Give your PDF file a name using the following format “Surname-Forename-2.pdf”.

Important information about your applicant assignments
 

Summary, files to submit:
Two (2) PDF-files.

File number 1. Selection of works and table of content. Twenty (20) pages max.  
Name your files using this format: Surname-Forename-1

File number 2. Declaration of intent written in English and CV.
Name your files using this format: Surname-Forename-2

And optional moving images/video.

Technical specifications
To be able to assess your portfolio correctly, it is important that you comply with these technical specifications.

PDF
The PDF files must not be password-protected or set to force the presentation into full screen.

Video
In addition to the PDF files, you may also submit video with a total length of no more than 15 minutes.
Approved formats for video: MOV, MP4 or AVI
The videos must be compressed using H-264 compression.
Unless otherwise stated in the instructions for the applicant assignments, individual files must not exceed 300 MB. The total size of the applicant assignments must not exceed 500 MB.

Read more about how to submit work samples here.