Knowledge of materials and technologies expands the professional toolkit of a set designer. It allows for a deeper understanding of spatial possibilities, the visualization of more options for execution, making more considered design decisions, and translating personal ideas into the physical environment with greater precision. In an event setting, the link between concept and execution is especially crucial. Space is created under specific conditions—with a particular venue, deadlines, budget, production technologies, installation, and deinstallation. Understanding these constraints helps prevent limiting a design to obvious solutions and enables the discovery of expressive ways to work within real production capabilities. This course is dedicated to expanding that professional scope. It allows students to delve deeper into the material and technological aspects of set design and apply that knowledge to create more precise, expressive, and compelling spatial projects.

This course is suitable for:
— Set designers with experience in event and spatial projects;
— Scenographers;
— Event designers;
— Art directors;
— Architects and designers experienced in temporary spaces;
— Artists working with installations and spatial objects;
— Professionals in exhibition and cultural design.The course is designed for specialists who already know how to develop a concept and a spatial solution and wish to deepen their knowledge of materials, technologies, lighting, media, and the evolution of space over time.

Course Prerequisites:Knowledge of: basic principles of spatial composition, scale, proportion, and visual language; fundamental principles of set design development.
Skills in: independently analyzing a brief; developing spatial concepts and zoning; designing key objects; assembling and presenting a spatial project; formulating tasks for collaborating specialists.
Experience with: practical experience in set design, scenography, event design, architecture, exhibition design, or spatial design; proficiency in computer and graphic/presentation software.

Throughout the course, students will learn to:— Connect the concept of a spatial project with material and technological solutions;
compare materials based on their physical, visual, and manufacturing properties;
— Select materials and processing methods suited to a specific form and objective;
— Develop the constructive and technological principle of an object;
— Design a scenario for transforming spatial form;
— Synchronize form, light, and media within a spatial narrative;
— Formulate requirements for production, lighting, and media teams;
— Present the project in a way that simultaneously conveys the artistic concept, spatial logic, and realization principle.

— Material research including a properties map and option comparison.
— Technological map of the key object with justification for selection.
— Conceptual diagram illustrating construction, joints, assembly, and installation.
— Transformation scenario and sequence of object states.
— Scenario for the interaction of space, light, and media.
— Production sheet detailing materials, technological principles, and requirements for collaborating teams.

Materials and Their Properties
What we study: Physical, visual, and manufacturing properties of materials—rigidity, flexibility, weight, transparency, reflectivity, texture, light permeability, and processing methods.
Practice: Investigating materials for key elements of your own project and comparing options based on their properties and potential applications.
Outcome: Material study + a property and potential map of the chosen materials.Processing and Shaping
What we study: Material processing and shaping methods—cutting, bending, molding, stretching, perforation, joining, and other production technologies.
Practice: Investigating processing methods for chosen materials and developing form options for a key project element.
Outcome: System of processing methods + shaping options for the key element.Structural Solutions
What we study: Principles of building temporary structures—frameworks, modules, assembly systems, supports, connections, and suspensions. The relationship between structure, form, material, and spatial requirements.
Practice: Developing a structural principle for a key object, taking into account its form, material, assembly, and installation.
Outcome: Conceptual structural diagram + connection and assembly schematics.Light and Space
What we study: The interaction of light with material and form. Transparency, reflection, shadow, diffusion, contrast, lighting accents, and the alteration of spatial perception.
Practice: Developing a lighting scenario for a space or a key project object.
Outcome: Lighting scenario + diagram of lighting states and light interaction with materials.Media and Imagery
What we study: Projection, LED, screens, and other media tools. The interaction of imagery with physical form, surface, architecture, and viewer movement.
Practice: Developing a media solution and a script for its interaction with the space.
Outcome: Media script + diagram of media placement and interaction within the space.

Space Transformation
What we study: The alteration of spatial form over time—movement, unfolding, folding, displacement, configuration change, and the emergence or disappearance of elements.
Practice: Developing a transformation scenario for an object or spatial system, taking into account material, structure, light, and media.
Outcome: Transformation scenario + sequence of spatial states.Synchronization of Spatial Systems
What we study: The interaction of material, structure, transformation, light, and media within a single spatial solution. Connecting the artistic concept to realization possibilities.
Practice: Integrating all developed systems into a unified spatial logic and testing their interaction.
Outcome: A complete material-technological system for the project + system interaction diagram.Final Assembly
What we study: Principles of professionally presenting a material-technological solution. How to simultaneously showcase the concept, spatial logic, material solutions, and implementation principles.
Practice: Final assembly and presentation of the project.
Outcome: Final set design project + presentation + complete package of materials for handover to production.