This six-class course invites participants to step beyond the conventional, exploring the raw, the uncomfortable, and the transformative in design. Focused on material experimentation, narrative integration, and emotional priming, the sessions are built to push boundaries and provoke new ways of thinking and making.

Rooted in Sruli Recht’s evolving design philosophy, and guided by a hands-on approach, the course builds practices that merge form, meaning, and process. Participants will explore psychological tools like flow states, lean into the discomfort of innovation, and reframe materials and narratives to challenge conventional thinking.

Through workshops, critiques, and deep creative inquiry, you will develop fearless methodologies and create work that resonates beyond the expected. This is an opportunity to explore your practice in new ways, discover untold possibilities, and craft ideas that feel undeniably yours.

 

This course is taught by Sruli Recht.

About your teacher: Over the decades of forward-thinking practice designer / artist Sruli Recht has created some of the most cutting edge, boundary pushing work that blends the otherworldly with the functional.

 

  • The course curriculum is modeled on a masterclass, intensive and immersive study, including in-class assignments.
  • Each 3-hour session will be a mix of lecture, discussion, and practice, meaning that the students will perform hands-on exercises in expanding their thinking and reflectivity.
  • There will be no written homework or a final project.
  • For the Summer 2025 semester, the course is taught once a week, in two sessions in different time zones, one to accommodate North American students, another to accommodate European / Asia-Pacific students.
  • Schedule: August 17th, 2025 – October 5th, 2025. The course will be broken up in two sessions and you can join either one:
  • Session A (the Americas), Sundays 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. EST / Session B (Europe / Asia), Sunday 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. GMT
  • Tuition: $1499

 

SESSION BREAKDOWN

Class 1 : Cultivating a Design Philosophy (August 17th)

Objective: To develop a framework for thinking that challenges norms and encourages
radical creativity.

 

Class 2 : Priming Flow State Design (August 24th)

Objective: Utilize psychological principles to unlock peak creativity and productivity in
design practice.

 

Class 3 : Synthetic Ethnologies – Narrative as Infrastructure (September 7th)

Objective: Learn how to embed storytelling into the affordance of design objects or
experiences to create Synthetic Ethnologies.

 

Class 4 : Sacred Materiality (September 14th)

Objective: Explore innovative methods to transform raw materials into narrative-driven,
functional designs.

 

Class 5 : Conceptual Destruction – Iteration, Critique, and the Power of Failure (September 21st)

Objective: Embrace failure as a driver to refine work through rigorous critique.

 

Class 6 : The Armory – Rituals of Reflection (October 5th)

Objective: Celebrate the creative journey by presenting completed works and reflecting on
the process.

 

PLEASE NOTE: THIS COURSE IS LIMITED TO TEN STUDENTS. ALL STUDENTS MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE TO ENROLL.

ENROLL HERE