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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Cecilia Cuff

Founder | The Nascent Group

Cecilia is an advocate for socially-driven design who masterfully integrates art, culture, and community impact to reimagine underserved spaces, transforming them into vibrant, inclusive environments.

Renowned for revitalizing and designing Chicago-based spaces like Bronzeville Winery and The South Side Sanctuary, to leaving her mark on destinations such as Taos Ski Valley in the mountains and Northern New Mexico and Santa Barbara Beach and Golf Resort in Curaçao, Cecilia’s forward-thinking approach reshapes hospitality and leaves enduring cultural imprints through sustainable, innovative design that builds the communities that they are in.

Cecilia Cuff is a session presenter for the Design as Activism Symposium.