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Anyone can cook - The Open College of the Arts

To find out more details about the transfer to The Open University see A New Chapter for OCA.

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Anyone can cook

The phrase “anyone can cook” is central to the Pixar film Ratatouille, where the lead, a young rat called Remi, turns out to be an immaculate chef.
I have a similar thought when watching Grand Designs or The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes. The projects created are spectacular and undoubtedly wonderful, but I find myself looking for fresh impetus, new ideas, new designers.
You will each have your own places that give you happy memories. We want to tap into that potential within each of us by providing opportunities to engage in design practice and to learn design through new programmes at the Open College of the Arts. I’m very excited to announce that the first of these is now ready – we have a foundation in Interior Design which you can sign up for from today.
I remember visiting the Pompidou Centre in Paris as a teenager and experiencing the joy and thrill of immersing myself in the possibilities afforded by design, to take a blank canvas, or even an old one, and create something extraordinary. It was the same at Stowe and Hampton Court, with the work of Capability Brown, although thankfully I avoided any run ins with the Grey Lady!
Our new Foundation provides an opportunity to learn more about design and impact on us. As Mike Fairbrass, a tutor on the foundation, explains thoughtful interior design can not only make a space function better and look amazing, it can impact mood and wellbeing. People respond to their environment and this can be directed by…design fundamentals.”
The new degree in Interior Design is available from 3rd December 2018. Patti Crozier is the new programme leader for Interior Design and she comes with a background as a commercial interior designer for over a decade. She has taught in a number of institutions and through that developed a passion for ambitious and progressive interior design practice and education. As Patti says about the degree, I will be heading up the Interior Design course which is going to offer a truly exciting combination of technical challenges and innovative thinking…so that students can become spatial dreamers, architectural investigators and playful innovators of interiors.”
The Open College of the Arts is part of the University for the Creative Arts, which was recently named Modern University of the Year’ in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide in recognition of the pioneering approach, employment prospects and high level of student satisfaction. OCA was proud to be part of that, particularly as the college achieved 91.3% in the 2018 National Student Survey for overall student satisfaction showing that our students value the efforts that our dedicated tutors put in to support them.  
Image Credit: OCA BA (Hons) Painting student Paul Butterworth

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Posted by author: Will Woods

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