The academic environment fostered within in a school of design provides the opportunity to actively question the role of design practice within contemporary society and provides a platform in which to engage with students, practitioners and industry partners in a vast array of ideological concerns and design research undertakings.

The teaching of design studios is thought of as a cross disciplinary pursuit that seeks new parameters for the practice of design. This is undertaken through a deep engagement with the physical, phenomenological, social, political, historical and technological dimensions which shape the world. In this way, the design studio operates as a mechanism for challenging pre-existing assumptions about the act of design and the role and responsibilities of the designer within the cultural domain.