Design
Subject Overview at Downing College
| Average places per year | 2 |
| Course duration | 3 years BA Year 4 - Master of Design |
| Standard offer | A-Level: A*AA IB: 40-42, with 776 at Higher Level |
| Course requirements | A* in A-Level Mathematics or 7 in IB Level Mathematics |
| Admission overview | All applicants for Design are required to take written and practical assessments if shortlisted for interview.
Typically one interview, where you will discuss/show a portfolio of recent work |
| UCAS code | KH11 |
| Campus code | D |
Why study Design at Cambridge?
Design at Cambridge combines architecture, engineering and materials science in one degree, giving you the opportunity to design solutions to environmental and societal challenges. You will learn how small and large-scale designs such as physical objects, apps, artificial intelligence, electronics or architecture and planning and planning systems can influence people, cultures, economies and the natural world.
The course is structured around a series if core studio projects which will require you to create solutions to real-world problems: from planning stage through to pitching a final product and evaluating user impact. For most projects, you will be working with stakeholders such as clients, end-users and suppliers. Outside of the studio, you will learn about related subjects including design history, philosophy, mathematics, engineering and natural sciences, which will then be applied to your design project.
All teaching for subject follows the same course outline set by the Faculty/Department. See the structure of the course on the University website.
The interdisciplinary focus of Design means that you will gain the knowledge and skills to be a leader in a range of technical and creative sectors. Depending on the route you take throughout the course, you could pursue a wide variety of careers, from working in manufacturing, to joining the design sector, to starting an entrepreneurial journey. You could also choose to continue to a PhD in a particular area of the course that interests you, such as emerging materials.
Who is Downing looking for?
You must have an enthusiasm for both art and the sciences. The ability to draw and an interest in engineering, materials, design and architecture are essential, as is the knowledge of mathematics to at least an A-Level standard.
Design applicants will need to submit a PDF (6 A4 pages, and less than 15MB in size) of their own artwork prior to interview. The selection of your images should, in part, reflect material you might bring to interview as part of your portfolio.
Your portfolio will be shared at your interview and should display your interests and experience/ ability in visual and material arts. A sketchbook with ongoing drawings is extremely helpful to take to interview, which can be in any media and should include a variety of subject matters.
How can you find out more about the subject?
To explore Design at Cambridge in more detail please visit the course website.
Within the course link you can prepare for your interview through preparation and guidance on your portfolio.
We recommend you read at least one of the following before coming to interview:
• Bo Bardi, L., Stones against Diamonds, AA publications,
• Moore, R., Why we build, Picador,
• Pallasmaa, J., The Eyes of the Skin, Wiley,
• Perec, G., Species of Space and Other Pieces, Penguin,
• Rasmussen, S.E., Experiencing Architecture, MIT
• Till, J, Architecture Depends, MIT press
The following are books written by current members of the Department (this is just for interest-don’t feel you have to read any of them):
• Brittain-Catlin, T., How to Read a Building, Colins
• Brittain-Catlin, T., The Edwardians and Their Houses, Lund Humphries
• Brittain-Catlin, T., Bleak Houses, MIT
• Brittain-Catlin, T., Leonard Mannasseh and Partners, Twentieth Century Society
• Brittain-Catlin, T., The English Parsonage in the Early 19th Century, Yale
• Brittain-Catlin, T., Churches, Collins
• Campbell, J.W.P., Building St Paul’s, Thames and Hudson
• Campbell, J.W.P., The Library, Thames and Hudson
• Campbell, J.W.P., Brick a World History, Thames and Hudson
• Campbell, J.W.P., and M. Tutton (eds), Staircases, Routledge
• Campbell, J.W.P., and M. Tutton (eds), Doors, Routledge
• Hernandez, F., Bhaba for Architects, Routledge
• Hernandez, F, P.Kellett and L.Allen, Rethinking the Informal City, Berghahan
• Hernandez, F., Beyond Modernist Masters: Contemporary architecture in Latin America, Birkhäuser, £24.57
• Katz, Irit,et al. Camps Revisted, Rowman and Littlefield
• Schroder, I. and Manual Herz, African Modernism, Park
• Short, C.A., The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture, Routledge
• Short, C.A. et al. Geometry and Atmosphere, Ashgate
• Steane, M.A., The Architecture of Light, Routledge
• Steane, M.A. and Steemers, K., Environmental Diversity in Architecture, Taylor and Francis
• Steemers, K., Healhty Homes, RIBA
• Steemers, K., Daylight Design in Buildings, Routledge
• Steemers, K., Energy and Enivironment in Architecture, Taylor and Francis
• Sternberg, M., Cistercian Architecture and Medieval Society, Brill
• Sternberg, M., W. Pullan, C. Larkin, L. Kyriacou and M. Dumper, The Struggle for Jerusalem’s Holy Places, Routledge
• Sternberg, M., and H. Steiner (eds.), Phenomenologies of the City, Ashgate
• Sunikka-Blank, M. and Ray Galvin, A Critical Appraisal of Germany’s Thermal Retrofit Polic, Springer
You might also enjoy looking at some of these websites: