Career-focused projects
Learning through real-world experience
Career-focused experiences rooted in the realities of the profession
At ESDAC, professional preparation is an integral part of the student journey from the very start of the course. Through an immersive, practice-led teaching approach, students build their skills on real projects, hands-on experience in the field, creative challenges, work placements and collaborations with partner companies from the industry.
This gradual immersion allows them to build their expertise, widen their professional network and strengthen their employability, even before starting a work-study programme or entering the workplace.
Immersive projects
Workshops
Turning business needs into real-world projects.
At the heart of our teaching, workshops immerse students in real briefs supervised by professionals. Working in teams or independently, they develop creative solutions which they then present to people working in the industry.
Webinars and masterclasses
Exclusive talks and masterclasses punctuate life at the school, covering the major themes of design, creation and the creative industries. Led by experts, designers and industry professionals, these sessions offer a practical insight into current issues, how the professions are changing and the inspiring careers that shape contemporary design.
Paris Design Week
An associate partner of Paris Design Week for four consecutive years, ESDAC underlines its commitment at the heart of one of the most influential design events in France. This collaboration reflects our determination to root our students' training in the realities of the industry. For a school that trains tomorrow's designers, taking part in an event of this scale is essential: it gives our talented students privileged first-hand contact with the professionals, trends and innovations shaping contemporary design.
In 2025, Paris Design Week Factory brought together 182 participants, 23 countries and nearly 24,000 visitors.
They chose ESDAC
“A former ESDAC student in interior architecture, I now run my own interior architecture practice between Megève and Genève.
My success is also, in part, theirs and that of the whole teaching team. I have had the chance to compare this course with many other schools through the work-study students I have met from all over France. ESDAC is clearly one of the most complete programmes available: you are given every key you need to succeed in the professional world, and it is then up to each person to make serious use of them. The lecturers are committed and highly skilled, the programmes are in step with what the market expects, and the skills you gain open the door to a real career, including internationally, for anyone with the motivation.
I would recommend this school without hesitation, as much for its human scale as for its professional quality.”
« Lors de notre parcours à l’ESDAC, nous avons eu l’opportunité de rejoindre Kardham en contrat d’apprentissage, un acteur de référence dans les domaines du design, de l’architecture et de l’aménagement des espaces. Notre formation nous a apporté bien plus que des compétences techniques : elle nous a permis de développer une véritable méthodologie de projet, une sensibilité créative et une compréhension des enjeux du design. Grâce aux projets professionnalisants, aux échanges avec les intervenants et à l’accompagnement de l’équipe pédagogique, nous avons acquis les outils nécessaires pour intégrer rapidement le monde du travail. Aujourd’hui, au sein de la société Kardham, nous mettons chaque jour en pratique les enseignements reçus à l’ESDAC en participant à des projets ambitieux et innovants. Nous gardons un excellent souvenir de ces années d’études qui ont joué un rôle déterminant dans notre évolution personnelle et professionnelle. »
“Product Design is a discipline I teach at ESDAC, where we set out to design everyday objects methodically, across every possible sector (sport, medical, luxury, craft, industrial production runs, and so on). What we want to pass on to students is a genuine passion and curiosity for making things, and to get them to think before putting an idea forward and then to build it on solid foundations. In this course we try to find the designer each student wants to become.”
“What is great about ESDAC is that the lecturers are there to guide us in what we want to do. We steer our projects with our tutors, but the ideas come from us. It is a collective effort with our tutors and that is what is wonderful about this school. Nicolas Robineau was my technical tutor and he always gave me the keys so that I was never stuck with my ideas. As students we sometimes do too little and sometimes take on too much, but while we are still studying we can let go, open up everything a building makes possible and improve our knowledge, our technique and that drive to put a workable project in front of the panel. It is genuinely hands-on experience and I would wish it on every interior architecture or spatial design student.”
“My aim is to give students a practical understanding of what the profession expects. Professionals know exactly what they are looking for, and it is essential that students have that lightbulb moment: understanding how to develop a project accurately and methodically.
I place great importance on dialogue, offering different approaches to broaden their range of skills and open up as many opportunities as possible. The strength of our teaching also lies in the fact that most of our lecturers are working professionals: we know in concrete terms where to guide them so that they become the designers they want to be.”