The École cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ÉCAL) is a university of art and design located in the Renens suburb of Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded in 1821 and is affiliated with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland (HES-SO). The designer Alexis Georgacopoulos is the director of ÉCAL.
History
A precursor to ÉCAL called the "Ecole Cantonale de Dessin" was founded in 1821, and situated in Cité-Devant. The school was relocated to the newly built Musée Arlaud in the centre of Lausanne twenty years later. Over the next century the school moved to various locations and went though changes of management and name before eventually taking its current name and location in 1986. Under the directorship of the graphic artist Pierre Keller from 1995 to 2011, ÉCAL became, "one of the world's most influential design schools."
Studies
ÉCAL offers a foundation year, bachelor's, master's, and master's in advanced studies degrees in different fields.
Foundation year
Preparatory year for students who wish to work in the fields of art or design. The course is designed to provide the skills required for a Bachelor's program at ÉCAL or another university.
Bachelor
Visual Arts
Cinema
Graphic Design
Industrial Design
Media & Interaction Design
Photography
Master
Visual Arts
Film Studies, in collaboration with the Haute Ecole d'Art et Design (HEAD) in Geneva
Product Design
Photography
Type Design
HES-So Innokick (Integrated Innovation for Product & Business Development)
Master of Advanced Studies
Design for Luxury & Craftsmanship
Design Research in Digital Innovation
Notable alumni
Graduates of ÉCAL include:
Alfredo Aceto, Italian artist
Fabrice Aragno, Swiss director, producer, and cinematographer
Ini Archibong, Swiss-American artist and designer (ÉCAL adjunct lecturer)
BIG-GAME (Augustin Scott de Martinville, Elric Petit, and Grégoire Jeanmonod), design company
Claude Barras, Swiss director, producer, and writer
Jean-Stéphane Bron, Swiss actor and film director
Thilo Alex Brunner, Swiss industrial designer
Irena Brynner (1917–2003), Russian-born American sculptor, jewellery designer, mezzo-soprano, and author
Rodrigo Caula, Canadien industrial designer and entrepreneur
Michel Charlot, Swiss industrial designer
Étienne Chambaud, French artist
Jung-You Choi, Korean designer (Luxury & Craftsmanship)
Anne Crausaz, author and illustrator
Caroline Cuénod, Swiss-Danish filmmaker
Marc Decosterd, Swiss director, screenwriter, producer, musician and actor
Andreas Fontana, Swiss film director and writer
Gilles Gavillet, Swissgraphic designer
Alexis Georgacopoulos, Greek industrial designer and ÉCAL director (2011–present)
Christophe Guberan, Swiss product designer
Moisés Hernández, Mexican designer
Carmen Jaquier, Swiss film director
Jonas Kamprad, Swedish designer and entrepreneur
Pierre Keller (1945–2019), Swiss graphic artist and ÉCAL director (1995–2011)
Maria Jeglinska-Adamczewska, Polish designer (Office for Design and Research)
Dode Lambert, Swiss painter and animator
Bertille Laguet, Swiss product designer
Nicolas Le Moigne, Swiss designer (ÉCAL faculty)
Herbert F. Leary, United States Navy vice admiral
Namsa Leuba, Swiss-Guinean art director and photographer
Catherine Leutenegger, Swiss artist and photographer
LeviSarha (Sarha Duquesne and Levi Dethier), design studio
Emanuele Luzzati (1921–2007), Italian set designer, animator and illustrator
M/M Paris (Mathias Augustyniak and Michael Amzalag studio)
Romain Mader, Swiss photographer
Youri Messen-Jaschin, Swiss artist of Latvian origin
Sébastien Mettraux, Swiss painter, sculptor and engraver
Carolien Niebling, Dutch designer
Rachel Noël, Swiss film director
Panter & Tourron, design studio
Louise Paradis, graphic designer
Michele Pennetta, Italian documentary filmmaker
Léa Pereyre, Dutch costume designer
Enrico Pietra, Italian industrial designer and entrepreneur
Maxime Plescia-Büchi, Swiss tattoo artist, graphic designer, and creative director
Laurence Rasti, photographer
Julie Richoz, Swiss-French designer (ÉCAL tutor)
Maya Rochat, Swiss artist and photographer
Adrien Rovero, Industrial designer
Pauline Saglio, French artist and interaction designer
Brynjar Sigurðarson, Icelandic designer
Francine Simonin (1936–2020), Swiss-Canadian painter, engraver, and designer
Annik Troxler, graphic designer
Marie Velardi, Swiss artist
Marcel Vidoudez (1900–1968), Swiss watercolourist and illustrator
Hongchao Wang, Chinese designer
Giorgia Zanellato, Italian designer
Notable faculty
Partial list of ÉCAL professors:
Johanna Agerman Ross
Yves Béhar
Angelo Benedetto
Camille Blin
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
Pierre Charpin
Kim Colin
Alexandra Cunningham Cameron
Konstantin Grcic
Marva Griffin
Mette Hay
Jaime Hayon
Anniina Koivu
Max Lamb
Alberto Meda
Sabine Marcelis
Stéphanie Moisdon
Marcello Morandini
Ravi Naidoo
Karim Noureldin
Hans Ulrich Obrist
Jonathan Olivares
Eugenio Perazza
Alice Rawsthorn
Inga Sempé
Wieki Somers
Deyan Sudjic
Alexander Taylor
Yorgo Tloupas
Skylar Tibbits
Patricia Urquiola
Sebastian Wrong
Exhibitions
An exhibition titled How to best teach design today? which explored the teaching methods and outcomes of the school was staged at the Vitra Design Museum in 2022. The book The ECAL manual of style: How to best teach design today? was published at the same time.
Publications
Bovier, Lionel (2007). ECAL: A Success Story in Art and Design. JRP Ringier. ISBN 978-3-90577-090-2.
Georgacopoulos, Alexis; Herschdorfer, Nathalie; Keller, Milo; Broomberg, Adam (2013). ÉCAL photography. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz. ISBN 978-3-7757-3725-8. OCLC 864435633.
Olivares, Jonathan; Georgacopoulos, Alexis (2022). The ECAL manual of style: how to best teach design today?. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 978-1-83866-517-3. OCLC 1280602474.
See also
List of universities in Switzerland
List of art schools
List of institutions offering type design education
Notes and references
External links
Official website
EPFL+ECAL Lab (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne design research and innovation centre)
Ville de Lausanne page about ÉCAL
The ECAL Manual of Style, How to best teach design today? (Exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum)