Design Academy Eindhoven master's students staged protests during the school's annual Graduation Show over a lack of workspace that they say has created "economic segregation".

The demonstrators gathered at the entrance to the design school exhibition during its opening on Saturday morning, chanting "No space today, no work to show" and carrying a banner that read "DAE overenrolled under-spaced".

The Graduation Show was being staged during Dutch Design Week in the Witte Dame (White Lady) building, a former Phillips factory in central Eindhoven that the school has called home since 1997.

The students' grievances stem from the Design Academy's upcoming move to a new facility in the Kanaalzone, a mixed-use district in development on the fringes of the city centre.

The move has been delayed from 2026 to September 2028, forcing the academy to operate with less space as some of the Witte Dame building, including the fifth floor previously used by master's students, had to be returned to the landlord at the start of this academic year.

Students protest alleged lack of teaching and maker space

According to a statement from the campaign organisers, this has forced the student body into cramped conditions where the making of physical and large-scale work is inhibited, and the academy has failed to make alternative provisions.

They allege there is an insufficient number of tables per student, a lack of teaching space and no maker space or open workshop for large-scale production. They also say the library has been closed since the end of September due to staff shortages.

"The situation reached such a state that a number of incoming students took the decision to leave the institution, only a month into their studies," said the statement. "Other students have felt forced to rent private spaces, off campus, at their own personal expense."

"The academy's institutional misguidance has created economic segregation between students. The student body feels that the institution should take responsibility and provide equitable opportunities to each and every blooming designer."

Master students have seen "floor completely erased"

The students are demanding that the school take action to provide external working and study spaces to ease overcrowding at the Witte Dame. They also want to see greater accountability from the academy, including financial transparency, clear communication and student representation in decision-making.

"We're protesting as master's students because basically we've seen our floor completely erased from the building, and we had to fit within the already existing spaces," master's student Pao Redó told Dezeen at the protest on Saturday.

He said there was less than one table per person and they could "really not work beyond the computer".

"We knew they're going through transition time, so we knew the building was going to go through some changes, and they promised us they would take care of it," Redó continued. "But clearly, they're not taking their promises seriously."

"We've been complaining the formal way for months, and we just had cosmetic and minimal solutions, so we're here to pressure them to make major changes."

DAE executive board chair Raf De Keninck told journalists at the Graduation Show that the school had taken steps to minimise the disruption to students from the move.

"We have one principle: it's education first," he said. "So we shrink all the administration, all the other functions of the school, and try to facilitate students the same as before."

"And we know that's not possible because we lost one-third of the building," he continued. "It's quite a complicated thing."

De Keninck expressed confidence that the DAE's highly creative students and staff would devise a solution to the issue.

"We have really critical students, and we teach them also to be critical," he said. "And I have a lot of faith in the fact that we have a house full of designers, so the problem can be solved."

The DAE is one of the world’s top-ranked design schools, with notable alumni including Hella Jongerius, Maarten Baas, Piet Hein Eek, Formafantasma and Sabine Marcelis.

Its overcrowding controversy comes soon after a wave of student protests in secondary schools in France, which has helped to fuel youth-led movements across Europe.

Dezeen has approached Design Academy Eindhoven for a comment.

Photos by Moyu Nishiyama.