70 311 Starting a Practice (Autumn 2026)

Course responsible: Erlend Grimeland and Elias Bjørnson Olderbakk

Design and architecture practices come in many shapes and sizes – freelancers, studios, startups, agencies, consultancies, collectives. The ambition of this course is to expose students to a range of these, and to the practical realities of building and sustaining a creative practice.

Through guest talks and practical lectures, this course gives students a closer look at how practices are built and run. Practitioners share how they started, how their work is structured and what they've learned. Each student develops a case for a practice of their own, informed by the examples the course provides.

The course has three objectives:

1. Understanding. Give designers and architects a foundational understanding of business economics, business models, sales and client relationships.
2. Practical examples. Learn from concrete practices in design and architecture – across fields, scales and business models.
3. Application. Build a case for your own practice that you can take with you beyond the course.

The course is structured around weekly guest lectures from practicing designers, architects and other creative practitioners. All guests follow the same format “Behind the scenes” where they speak openly about their work, numbers, failures and learnings.

Alongside the lectures, each student develops a case for an independent practice over the course of the semester. This is a project where students take a position on what kind of practice they want to build, and work through the practical and strategic implications of that vision.

Topics include:

• How independent practices in design and architecture are structured and financed
• Business models: startup, studio, agency, consultancy – and alternatives
• Pricing, project economy and the realities of year one
• Finding and choosing clients, and knowing what to say no to
• Models of practice: solo, partnerships, collectives, hybrid
• Brand, positioning and portfolio as strategic tools
• Scaling, not scaling, and the relationship between size and creative control

The guest list is updated annually to reflect a mix of fields, scales, career stages and practice models. At least one guest is not a designer or architect, but a professional who works with creative businesses – such as an accountant or lawyer.

Knowledge
With completed studies the student will have a deeper understanding of what is required to establish and run an independent practice in design and architecture, including the economic, strategic and personal dimensions involved.

Skills
With completed studies the student will be able to set up the foundation for an independent practice – including a pricing model, first-year budget, acquisition strategy, positioning and portfolio.

General competence
The student should be able to critically reflect on the choice of working model and business structure, and explain how these choices affect creative practice, autonomy and sustainability.

The course consists of weekly sessions on Tuesdays over approximately 14 weeks, plus a final intensive week.

Week 1 introduces the course and the semester project. Weeks 2–6 and 8–12 each feature a 2 hour session with a guest lecture and Q&A, followed by project work. Week 7 is a mid-semester review where students present their work in progress. Week 13 is preparation for the intensive week.

During the intensive week at the end of the semester, students finalize their practice case and present it as a pitch to a panel consisting of the semester's guest lecturers. The final presentation is open and followed by a social gathering.

Between sessions, students work independently on their case, building it incrementally as the guest lectures provide new input and perspectives.

Assessment method: Assessment folder

Grading scale: Pass/fail

Delivery in Assessment Folder:

1. A presentation on how to start a new practice.
2. A reflection note on what you have learnt from the course