In 2026, after nearly 90 years, the Institute of Design was folded into Illinois Tech's School of Design & Society.
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

Exploring Peru: 2025 Alumni Immersion Intro

December 17, 2024
6:00-8:00pm CST
Institute of Design
3137 S. Federal Street

Join the ID community and learn about a unique summer 2025 immersion opportunity in Peru’s Sacred Valley.

On December 17, hear from notable ID alumni about a June 2025 Alumni Immersion in Peru’s Sacred Valley. Refreshments will be provided. Get either in-person or livestream tickets.

The Institute of Design, in partnership with Murmur Ring and Empathy, is offering the ID alumni network a four-day curated immersion, Reclaiming Value: Sacred Valley Design Immersion. ID alumni will receive a special rate; limited seats available for non-alumni.

Register