Study at Aalto

Get a degree in arts, design and architecture

The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture is a Nordic leader in higher education for design, fashion, games, media, architecture, film, art education and art. We educate the next generation of filmmakers, designers, artists and art educators, photographers, architects and researchers to impact society through their creative work and research.

Student working on a project in a wood workshop. Photo: Mikko Raskinen / Aalto University

The Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture is one of the most prestigious design schools in the world and the leading design school in Northern Europe. The Bachelor’s Programme in Design prepares students for designing future products, services and systems in a creative and critical manner. Design as a concept is no longer linked to purely physical objects but digital experiences and abstract concepts as well, enhancing its power to shape the world. Thus, students are given the freedom to define themselves as designers, each finding their own ways of working and direction when exploring problems, developing solutions and forming opportunities.

Study options

Learn more about our student's experiences in studying design at Aalto University.

How to apply

The Master’s Programme Art and Media Visual Communication Design (VCD) major is an international learning community committed to investigating new modes of action within visual communication. As a critical response to the contemporary conditions, the studies enable you to reconsider the established notions of graphic design. The major supports you in rethinking and redefining your own design practice, in order to situate it in wider societal and environmental frameworks. By providing the competence areas of information design, visual narratives, and type & written language, the curriculum encourages you to turn your design practice towards the public and the sustainable, and towards multiple and diverse knowledge domains. The VCD major provides you time and space to redefine your individual design approach, with continuous backup from community, collaboration, and peer learning. The studies support you in this with a combination of theory and practice.

Study options

Aalto-yliopisto A Grid / Photo: Unto Rautio

The studies in Collaborative and Industrial Design (CoID) focus on design's role in society. Students develop skills enabling them to work as design experts and leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators in a range of roles within industry, business, communities, education, and public sector.

Study options

What alternative materials can best replace plastic? How can traditional crafts be merged with contemporary design? What kind of products do we need in our changing society? The studies in Contemporary Design are driven by concrete, real-world needs. Students receive support not only to build their creative and professional confidence, but also to expand their thinking beyond conventional limitations, adopting an experimental design mindset.

Study options

Creative sustainability students studying

The Master’s Programme in Creative Sustainability (CS) provides a multidisciplinary learning platform in the fields of design, business, and materials and chemical engineering. Sustainability is an increasingly relevant design perspective as designers are expected to contribute to innovative solutions and to critically examine different framings of sustainability concerns. For students in design, the Creative Sustainability Master’s Programme provides skills and knowledge to promote sustainable development through creative design practice.

Study options

The Fashion, Clothing and Textile Design study option prepares the students to proactively and creatively tackle future global socio-technical challenges and innovate new sustainable and culturally inclusive design solutions for the global field of textiles and fashion. The studies educate designers equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitude for the future needs of fashion and textiles as creative force.

Study options

Game Design and Development is a multidisciplinary major that offers a unique mix of technical and artistic aspects of game development. The major produces visionary, out-of-the-box thinkers who have the ambition to push the boundaries in the world of game design. Using a project-based, hands-on with minds-on approach, the major in Game Design and Development cultivates a strong community of students from highly diverse backgrounds. Students can apply for the major with any Bachelor’s degree, and accepted students include programmers, 3D artists, animators, creative writers, architects, and even psychologists.

Study options

In a technology-saturated world, it is indispensable to understand and study the impacts that technology has on individuals, organisations and society. The New Media major brings together a multicultural group of students with very versatile skills and backgrounds. They all share the same passion of exploring the opportunities and challenges that new and emerging digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and extended reality, open for communication, art, and design.

Study options

Architecture is technical and artistic, it is a social art and also an artful science. Architecture is about creating spaces for all types of human activities. To be a successful architect, you should be able to see problems from different perspectives, which forms the basis for the broadness of the degree. At the Aalto Architecture programme your scientific and artistic thinking will be developed, aiding you in designing buildings and cities for a sustainable future while promoting health and well-being and enriching lives aesthetically.

Study options

"A diverse group of students with different backgrounds is inspiring. Every teacher has a different expertise and some different perspective to bring to the discussion, and the topics we learned broadened my knowledge of the city from very different perspectives”

Study options

Interior architecture addresses the close human scale of space and furniture to create meaning and value to people and organisations, and to transform and renew the everyday living environment. Dealing with the design of immediate interior and exterior environments, interior architecture requires understanding on human culture, needs and aspirations, the bodily experience and senses, and the spatial, material and technological means to meet these. A skilled interior architect is capable of integrating diverse elements into functional and experiential design solutions that exceed the users’ and clients’ expectations and are socially, environmentally and economically sustainable.

The programme educates interior architects with a distinct design personality. It comprises studies on spatial design and furniture design. Concrete design assignments form a major part of education. The studies emphasise advanced practical design skills combined with conceptual and strategic design thinking and research-driven design. Students are encouraged to expand the frontiers of the discipline by addressing systems level problems and societal challenges across the scale of built environment.
Students graduated from the programme are eligible to work as professional interior architects.

Study options

IDBM students at IDBM Impact showcasing a digital solution

IDBM is a pioneering and renowned study programme that truly embodies the vision of Aalto by integrating design and technology with global business development. Through transdisciplinary teamwork and real-life business challenges provided by our prominent industry partners, the programme prepares students as the next generation of creative professionals. IDBM is uniquely positioned as the only programme offered in all six schools of Aalto, allowing programme graduates to earn a Master’s degree in either business, design or technology. Students graduating from the School of Arts, Design and Architecture will complete and be awarded a Master of Arts (MA) Degree in International Design Business Management (IDBM).

Study options

ViCCA explores emerging knowledges and practices at the intersections of visual cultures, curating and contemporary art. We facilitate students to develop and contextualize their own practices within and in between these contexts. The programme is open to artists, curators, scholars and practitioners with different backgrounds and experience, who are looking for opportunities to understand, challenge and shift the paradigms of contemporary art and the world around us.

Please note! Applying for ViCCA is possible every second year. The next intake, after studies starting in 2022, will be in 2024 with the application period starting in December 2023.

Study options

The major in production design involves training artistic designers who are responsible for the visual, operational and production entity of a film production. The aim of the education is to find and enhance the student’s personal artistic vision, to extend his/her professional competence and/or specialisation and to provide skills needed for doctoral studies. Along with broad-ranging professional skills, the goal is to obtain the ability to develop the student’s own field in a creative and independent manner. Master’s degree students are expected to work independently and to play an active role in planning their studies.

Study options

In Master’s Programme in Film and Television, major in Cinematography, the student deepens his/her vocational competence to achieve a greater mastery of the overall artistic, production and technical entity of his/her professional area in various film, TV and advertising productions.

Study options

The goal of the major in Documentary Film is to form innovative, critical, and analytical documentary filmmakers for both the national and international arenas. The students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the history and conventions documentary filmmaking. Moreover, the program will encourage students to engage future perspectives of documentary filmmaking as a storytelling, art and research form.

Students will be able to develop their artistic and research skills through creative enquiry, practice and collaboration. They will be able to combine practical mastery and conceptual thinking, increasing their professional competence and situating them at the forefront of the documentary filmmaking field.

Study options

The goal of the Master’s Programme in Film and Television, major in Film and Television Producing, is to deepen the student’s skills in their chosen direction – towards independent audiovisual entrepreneurship, a research or development project in the film producing field, a deeper understanding of artistic leadership or some corresponding advanced competence planned together with the student. Some courses offered as part of the programme combine the teaching of production, screenwriting and film directing with the goal of enhancing the students’ competence in television drama.

Study options

Master’s programme in Film and Television, major in Film Directing in Elo Film school Finland strengthens the student’s capacity to generate and develop cinematic ideas, storybuilding and narration skills in addition to developing the director’s personal cinematic style and directorial identity.

Study options

The aim of the MA degree is to develop the student into an expert of viewing and seeing, a storyteller and an artist.

Study options

Create the soundtracks for the hit films of tomorrow - our sound design programme will equip you with the skills and theory you need as a professional sound designer and sound engineer in all areas of film production. You'll learn how to think about sound in terms of dramatic composition and to understand sound and space. Students will also gain a deeper appreciation for the dynamics of a full-length film production process and develop management and communication skills. Theory and history lessons lend a deeper knowledge of the traditions and modern trends in film.

Study options

The aim of the Master's Degree Programme in Screenwriting for Film and Television is to strengthen the student's individual expression, skills in writing for film and the abilities required in artistic and production-related process work and group work. Master’s students become familiar with the central theoretical questions in the field and its research.

Study options

No intake 2022. Applying for the studies starting in 2023 will be possible during the application period 2022-2023.

Would you like to be part of the magical world of animation, create visually engaging stories and breathe life into characters? Animation major explores both the theory and practice of this most imaginative and joyous form of art. The programme is the first of its kind in Finland, and students will become part of a wide network in the Finnish and international animation community. You will be thoroughly supported by our dedicated professors in finding your own voice and maximising your artistic potential to launch a successful career in animation.

Study options

Photo by Petri Juntunen, called Untitled (Of Clouds and Clocks), 2019. A horse standing in front of clouds in the red-shaded picture.

No intake 2022. Applying for the studies starting in 2023 will be possible during the application period 2022-2023.

A photograph has an all-piercing force in the society and culture, impacting individuals, communities and nations alike. In our image-saturated world, the significance of a powerful photograph hasn’t been lost. If anything, artists and photographers with something to say are needed now, more than ever before. As a student at Aalto University, you will be part of an ambitious and professional community and a learning environment, allowing you to develop your artistic practice and enhance your conceptual and critical thinking.

Study options

No intake 2022. Applying for the studies starting in 2023 will be possible during the application period 2022-2023.

Are you interested in studying Costume Design at the forefront of the field? Would you like to explore costume from a practice-based perspective that stimulates new concepts and ideas? Do you want to be part of international costume-related events? The Costume Design major of the Master’s Programme in Design for Theatre, Film and Television aims at creating the future professionals for the field of costume design, supporting the development of a dynamic artistic vision and a research-oriented approach for the performing arts and the film and media creative industries.

Study options

Please note! This programme is not available during the application period 2021-2022. Applying for the studies starting in 2023 will be possible during the application period 2022-2023.

Nordic Master in Visual Studies and Art Education (NM NoVA) is a double degree program between Aalto University (Finland) and Aalborg University (Denmark) in which students achieve a comprehensive understanding of Nordic practices and traditions in art education, visual culture, and cultural work. Through NM NoVA education, you will acquire relevant practical and theoretical competencies in art, education, and culture for working in cross-cultural and international environments. NM NoVA graduates will be able to respond to the demands of the changing world, where cultural, artists and pedagogical practices and professions are finding new ways and methods for meaning-making, interaction and creative solutions.

Study options

Student webinar | Master's studies at the School of Art, Design and Architecture

Our students share their experiences in studying in master's programmes in art, design and architecture.

Watch the webinar

How to apply

A guy peeks from behind fresh green birch branches. Photo: Aalto University / Unto Rautio

Finland’s excellent reputation in education, combined with a wide range of courses offered in English, makes Finland and Aalto University an attractive study destination for international students.

Study at Aalto

Studnets celebrating the start of the semester on campus. Photo: Lasse Lecklin

Read and watch real stories from Aalto students and alumni on student life at Aalto, social impact, interesting projects and unique career paths.

Study at Aalto

Student on a laptop during an online lecture

What do the studies really consist of in our degree programmes and study options? Join our webinars and ask directly from the programme heads!

Study at Aalto

On this page you will find information on upcoming events, fairs and webinars. You can meet Aalto University students and staffnthroughout the year.

Study at Aalto

Aalto students walking at campus during summer

Are you wondering what it is like to study at Aalto University? Or what student life is like at Aalto’s vibrant Otaniemi Campus or at the Mikkeli Unit? Come chat with our students about all things Aalto!

Study at Aalto

Are you applying to Aalto? Do you want to keep up to date and get admission related news?

Fighting toxic masculinity with a podcast and the help of Visual Communication Design.

17.3.2021 News

Nearly half of cut flowers end up in the trash, never making their way to dinner tables or first dates

28.10.2021 News

cucumbers on a plate covered with biobased liquid

A dip in the biobased liquid gives cucumbers a protective film. Innovative idea will be presented in the international BioDesign Challenge competition.

11.6.2021 News

Näytös21-voittaja Jenny Hytösen mallisto yhdistää kristalleilla kirjailtuja, läpinäkyviä verkkokankaita ja vahvasti niititettyä nahkaa.

The main prize winner is Jenny Hytönen, also Sofia Ilmonen and Juha Vehmaanperä were awarded.

1.6.2021 News

Kuvataideopiskelijoiden ikkunainstallaatio oli esillä Amos Rex -museossa osana Egyptin varjo -opintoprojektia.

Shadow of Egypt, a study project by students in art education ran alongside the Egypt of Glory exhibition.

6.4.2021 News

A man in a soundproof studio waving an object to create sound

Mundane sounds support the characters' personality and Iivo Korhonen is the one recording them. He encourages everyone to dream big, because sometimes that may become your reality.

3.2.2021 News