USP Graduate Program in Design, offered by the School of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU), intends to qualify professionals to act in a consistent, ethical and innovative way in design research and education. The Program aims at training high-level researchers for the academic and professional spheres.

Design, the Program’s research focus, is understood as a field of knowledge and of practice responsible for the configuration of visual, material, spatial and operational artifacts through interdisciplinary approaches, taking into account cultural, ethical, social, economic and environmental issues. As such, design is a key competitive factor within communication, industry and services, as well as within research and development activities in general.

The Graduate Program in Design brings together professors and researchers from the three departments of USP School of Architecture and Urbanism (History, Project and Technology), and colleagues from USP School of Engineering (EP) and School of Communication and Arts (ECA).

It currently has a single area of concentration (Design) and two research lines: ‘Design: Processes and Languages’, and ‘Design Theory and History’.

The research line ‘Design: Processes and Languages’ focuses on design production, planning, methods, syntax and semantics. It encompasses investigations on the dynamics of design practice from the perspectives of prospection, production, reception, use and post-use.

The research line ‘Design Theory and History’ focuses on the aspects that underlie and constitute design as a field of knowledge. It gathers investigations that contribute to a critical vision and a deeper understanding of design, of its social and civilizing role, and of its multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary dimensions.