Study Design in Barcelona

At IAAC, design is approached as a tool for shaping futures. The focus is on how designers can anticipate challenges, prototype new solutions and work across disciplines to generate real impact.

Through a culture of experimentation and collaboration, students explore design as a practice that integrates technology, ecology, society and entrepreneurship. Barcelona itself acts as a living testbed, where new ideas can be trialed at multiple scales.

Why study Design at IAAC?

Explore design as a future-oriented discipline that addresses social, ecological and technological change

Prototype ideas through hands-on experimentation with digital fabrication, electronics and bio-design

Learn to work in transdisciplinary teams, combining design with science, technology and social innovation

The programme

At IAAC, Design is approached through the Master in Design for Emergent Futures. Co-developed with Fab Lab Barcelona and Elisava Faculty of Design and Engineering, the programme offers a unique path to explore how design can generate social, ecological and technological impact.

Master in Design for Emergent Futures

The Master in Design for Emergent Futures trains professionals to design interventions that respond to today’s complex challenges. Students combine speculative design, prototyping and digital fabrication with a critical mindset to rethink the role of design in society.  Structured around four steps — Exploration, Instrumentation, Reflection and Application — the programme guides projects from research to real-world implementation, with the option in the second year to expand into research, entrepreneurship or open-source initiatives.

Postgraduate in Digital Fabrication – Fab Academy BCN

In the Postgraduate in Digital Fabrication – Fab Academy BCN, you will get the chance to see how designs become real, how bits become atoms, and how your ideas can scale-up. Through this intensive five-month program you will learn how to envision, design and prototype projects using digital fabrication tools and machines

Technical skills

Speculative design

Explore scenarios and interventions for emergent futures

Digital fabrication

Prototype ideas using advanced tools

Bio-design

Experiment with sustainable and living systems

Entrepreneur-ship

Transform prototypes into ventures

Why IAAC & Barcelona

Barcelona is a global design capital and provides the ideal setting for experimenting with new design approaches. IAAC connects students with:

Pujades Campus (22@ district) — home to Fab Lab Barcelona, one of the most influential makerspaces in the world.
A vibrant ecosystem of design schools, studios and industry partners, offering opportunities to test and apply projects in real contexts.

The Institute

IAAC is an innovative centre dedicated to prototyping the future. We don’t see the future as a distant horizon awaiting us. We understand the present as a moment to influence what comes next. The future is our daily inspiration, our driving force, and our biggest commitment: our minds live in the cities, the technology and the problems of the future. We stand at the intersection of imagination and reality, where every prototype holds the potential to shape the next era of habitat. We are architects of change.

Fee & Scholarships

Review important information regarding our programme fees, average cost of living in Barcelona and scholarships opportunities available for eligible applicants.

Admissions

Our admissions page provides information on everything you need to know about joining IAAC, from programme requirements and the application process to admissions events, information for international students and pre-course opportunities. Dive in to take the first step toward joining IAAC’s innovative community!