École des Arts Appliqués

The École nationale supérieure des arts appliqués et des métiers, also called the École des Arts Appliqués or Olivier de Serres and abbreviated to ENSAAMA, is a post-baccalauréat teaching establishment for the decorative arts in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France.

ENSAAMA's ancestry can be traced back to the École des Arts Appliqués à l’Industrie, which in 1856 was the first professional women's school. This became merged with the schools of Germain Pilon and Bernad Palissy in 1925 and with the Cours Supérieur d'Esthétique Industrielle founded in 1958 by Jacques Viénot, occupying the site of the now École supérieure des arts appliqués Duperré, and of the École Nationale Supérieure des Métiers d’Art founded at the start of the 1950s, which occupied the site of the old Hôtel Salé, now the Musée Picasso.

The life of the school is organised around various disciplines (sculpture, wall decoration, ceramics, textile printing, interior architecture, visual communication, industrial aesthetics) in which recognized experts come to share their expertise: Serge Mouille directed the jewellery-making department in the 1950s, and in 1958 Roger Tallon, Georges Patrix, Denis Huisman, Jacques Fillacier, the sculpteur Stahly, the architect Paul, among others, brought the school to life with the first Industrial Aesthetics course in France. Since the start of the 20th century, the school has taken the nickname "Arts-A" (pronounced in French: Zarza).

In 1956, ENSAAMA opened the first industrial design course in France (the section then being called Industrial Aesthetics). The section still exists today, as Product Design.

In 1969, ENSAAMA moved to new premises on the Rue Olivier de Serres, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. Over time the school has become known by the name "Olivier de Serres".

In the 1980s, the originality of this school lead to the teaching of a course for secondary-school students. This course provided an education in all the "technical" arts of the school, as well as providing a general education so that students could obtain a Baccalauréat and so the BTS (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur). This option has since been removed.

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