A Look Back at the Seventh Edition of About *Design* at Paris College of Art

From March 10 to 13, 2025, Paris College of Art hosted the seventh edition of About *Design*, its annual celebration of design education, creativity, and collaboration. This year’s theme—“Sketching, Stitching, Building a Community”—served as both inspiration and guiding principle for a four-day event that brought students and faculty together across departments.

Crafting Across Disciplines

What made this edition particularly meaningful was its deep commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration. Students from Communication Design, Fashion Design, and Interior Design worked side by side to imagine, prototype, and construct a large-scale installation. The common material: paper. The common goal: to explore what it means to build something together.

Through sketching, stitching, folding, and assembling, the group created an immersive and evolving paper structure in the PCA Student Lounge—a symbol of both the fragility and strength of a community built by many hands.

Building More Than an Installation

Rather than working in isolation, participants moved fluidly across stations and roles—offering feedback, refining techniques, and iterating ideas as a group. Whether fashion students guided how to stitch and manipulate fabric-like textures, or communication students proposed visual motifs, each individual’s skills enhanced the collective outcome.

The installation became a physical expression of dialogue: between individuals, between disciplines, and between concept and form. It embodied the design process not as a solitary act, but as a shared experience that lives in collaboration and conversation.

A Learning Experience Beyond the Classroom

The event also reaffirmed PCA’s educational values: experimentation, process, and community. Students were encouraged to leave behind the polished final product and instead embrace imperfection, iteration, and the beauty of learning through doing.

Workshops and informal critiques peppered the week, with faculty members offering guidance while allowing students the space to lead, make decisions, and adapt as a team. The result was a learning environment that was as fluid and creative as it was rigorous and structured.

Reflections on a Shared Journey

More than just a showcase, About *Design*  became a space for reflection, as students engaged with the question: What does it mean to design with others in mind? The answers varied, but the energy and unity built over the week were unmistakable. The paper installation—fragile yet intricate, temporary yet powerful—stood as a metaphor for what design education can be when rooted in shared purpose.

Looking Ahead

As the seventh edition of About *Design* concluded, it left behind more than a paper installation. It left behind a renewed sense of community—one that will carry forward into future studios, critiques, and collaborations. In a school like PCA, where international voices and perspectives converge, building community isn’t a byproduct. It’s the design.

Learn more about the program of this special event here.