RCA to bring in new schools structure

The new RCA structure, which will be put in place in August, will see the seven current schools brought down to six, including Brody’s School of Communication, with a dean leading each school.

The School of Design will be formed from the merger between the existing School of Architecture and Design and the School of Design for Production and will be headed by Dale Harrow, currently head of the School of Design for Production.

Alongside the School of Design, the RCA will set up a new School of Architecture and is currently seeking a new dean for this. Nigel Coates, the RCA’s head of architecture, stood down earlier this month.

The School of Material will be formed by the merger of the School of Applied Art and School of Fashion and Textiles, and will be headed by Wendy Dagworthy.

There will also be a School of Humanities, under dean Jane Pavitt, and a School of Fine Art, for which a dean is currently being sought.

Brody (pictured), currently head of the RCA’s Department of Communication Art & Design, says, ’I am on a listening brief at the RCA at the moment, trying to map my vision on top of what already exists to work out where the gaps are.’

Brody adds that he is hoping to extend the spectrum of the course from creating objects and services to generating more thought. He says, ’I want to develop people who are skilled strategy people.’

A spokeswoman for the RCA says the new structure follows a strategic review which also includes a planned 50 per cent increase in student numbers over the next five years.

The growth in student numbers will come through an increase in the number of MA courses on offer and the development of the RCA’s Battersea campus. The RCA has recently secured funding for the Sir Po-Shing and Lady Helen Woo Applied Art Department, which will open in Battersea in 2014.