Since the beginning of this academic year, Brighton University has removed all remaining dedicated studio space for 3D Design & Craft students. The University has felt as though it is acceptable to slowly remove all 3D Design & Craft dedicated studio space over the past couple of years and feel as though it is acceptable to substitute the space we have lost with an inadequate, and far smaller 'shared' studio space.
The much smaller space has been dubbed 'The Collaboratory' as the space is required to be available to students outside our course and therefore cannot have anything on the walls and has to be completely vacated at the end of each allocated time slot.
As a course, 3D Design & Craft is over 100 students strong, and we, the students feel as though we are being denied space when the course in it's very nature demands it. The irony of the situation is that we are the first year of the course to be paying the higher tuition fees (£9000/year), and being the first year to lose out on having a dedicated and personal workspace, even after we were lead to believe we would have space when we applied.
Those of us in our final year of study especially feel as though a dedicated studio space is crucial, as it supports engaging social interaction between peers and gives us the ability to visualise work projects as well as enabling us to think freely in a design environment. Most students do not have the space available at home to be able to do this kind of design work safely or effectively.
We urge anyone who feels the same way as we do to please sign the petition and also spread this information as wide as they can in the hopes of changing things for the better for current and future students.
