In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design came under new management. This website is an archive of the impactful and inspirational work produced by the ID community before that transition.

László Moholy-Nagy opened the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937, treating design as a discipline that was teachable, testable, and consequential. Nine decades on, its scope had widened from the things people use to the systems they depend on: hospitals, government agencies, classrooms, supply chains, digital platforms. Along the way, ID community members developed the published research, methods, and frameworks that designers rely on every day.

Chief among them is human-centered design: close attention to how people actually live, and advocacy for what that research reveals. It shaped designers who are comfortable with complexity and ambiguity: curious, rigorous, inclusive, and stubbornly optimistic about design's ability to change the systems that shape our lives.

To every one of them, who taught, studied, built, critiqued, and stayed late in the studio: thank you, and keep designing.

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Past Event

Cecilia Tham: How to Synthesize and Design Futures with Science

November 29, 2023
12:30-1:30pm CST
Institute of Design (ID)
3137 South Federal Street 2nd floor
Chicago, IL 60616

How combining the rigor of science with the imagination of design can help us navigate the unknown and create a better future.

Futurists are often tasked with envisioning, preparing, prototyping, and rehearsing for the future—even when much of it remains uncertain. In this talk, Cecilia MoSze Tham will explore how combining the rigor of science with the imagination of design can help us navigate the unknown and create a better future. We call this "Synthesizing Futures."

From understanding emerging technologies and their impact on society to imagining new solutions to complex problems, Tham will examine how a combination of scientific analysis and creative thinking can inform our futurist perspective. The discussion will also address the importance of diversity and inclusiveness in futurist forecasting and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure that future scenarios are grounded in reality and reflect the values and needs of all members of society.

Cecilia MoSze Tham (PhD 2026) is the founder and CEO of Futurity Systems, providing futures-as-a-service to help companies and organizations build better futures faster, together. She is also a PhD researcher at the Institute of Design (ID).

A Harvard-trained designer, Tham was formerly a Social Technologist at Alpha Telefonica, Europe’s first moonshot factory, and a serial entrepreneur who founded multiple companies such as Makers of Barcelona, FabCafe, and allWomen.tech. She has served as an advisor to UN World Food Program X, SXSW, and the City Government of Barcelona, as well as private companies. Futurity Systems is the official Moonshot Factory Specialist providing services to the Secretary of State of Spain in the Department of AI.

Tham is the winner of the AWS Global Disruptor Award 2022, and WEDO Women Pioneer Award 2022 and has been selected as one of Forbes Top 40 Futurists 2022 in Spain, 100 Most Influential Women Europe, and 100 Women of the Future. Futurity Systems has won the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award 2022 as well as the gold Lovie Award 2022.

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