Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel (HGK Basel FHNW) — the FHNW Academy of Art and Design — is one of the ten schools that make up the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), Switzerland’s University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. Based on the Campus Basel Dreispitz in Münchenstein, the academy describes itself as a creative environment for studies in art, design, and art-and-design education, organised around three guiding themes: digitality, diversity, and sustainability. Within the CCI Network the school is represented by Prof. Matthias Böttger and Daniel Nikels.
The academy operates a layered offering of Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes — including the International MDes and the interdisciplinary CoCreate programme — alongside continuing education at MAS and CAS level. Five research institutes anchor the academic work: the Institute Art, Gender, Nature (IAGN), the Institute Arts and Design Education (IADE), the Institute Contemporary Design Practices, the Institute Digital Communication Environments, and the Institute Experimental Design and Media Cultures. Students have 24/7 access to studio workspaces and a broad set of specialised workshops — woodworking, metalworking, digital fabrication, sculpture, screen printing — supported by the Media Library Basel, the CIVIC exhibition and discourse space, and the der TANK exhibition venue.
Programmes & Institutes
- Bachelor of Arts (BA) — Fine Arts, Visual Communication, Industrial Design, and more
- Master of Arts (MA) — Master Studio programmes in Industrial Design, Scenography, Fashion Design, Experimental Design
- International MDes — interdisciplinary Master of Design
- CoCreate — interdisciplinary cross-school programme
- PhD — doctoral research
- MAS / CAS — continuing education
- Five Research Institutes — IAGN, IADE, Contemporary Design Practices, Digital Communication Environments, Experimental Design and Media Cultures
Contact info
- Department: Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Basel FHNW (HGK Basel FHNW)
- Address: Freilager-Platz 1, 4142 Münchenstein, Basel, Switzerland
- Phone: +41 61 228 44 44
- Email: info.hgk@fhnw.ch
- Website: fhnw.ch/art-design
- Part of: Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW), 10-school network across Northwestern Switzerland
- CCI Contacts: Prof. Matthias Böttger, Daniel Nikels
