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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Professor Weslynne Ashton Published in Harvard Business Review

HBR Article Explores Lessons from the Global South in Circular Economy Innovation and Resource Efficiency

January 13, 2026

Institute of Design Professor Weslynne Ashton.

In her latest Harvard Business Review article, “For Circular Economy Innovation, Look to the Global South,” Weslynne Ashton shares a fresh perspective on where breakthrough thinking happens. While climate disasters intensify across the globe, she argues that the most promising circular economy innovations aren’t emerging from traditional design powerhouses—they’re coming from communities in the Global South that have long practiced resourcefulness by necessity.

This kind of systems thinking—looking beyond the obvious to discover all the forces at work on any given challenge—is exactly what we help students, businesses, and organizations practice at ID. Professor Ashton’s work reminds us that the best solutions often come from expanding our perspectives and learning from diverse approaches to design.

Weslynne Ashton is a Professor of Environmental Management and Sustainability at the Institute of Design and the Stuart School of Business at Illinois Tech. She is also Co-Director of ID’s Food Systems Action Lab.

“
Across the world, communities facing scarcity, pollution, and systemic disinvestment are building circular solutions out of not just environmental concern but necessity. Their models may look different, but they solve the same challenges businesses face: how to do more with less, reduce dependence on fragile global supply chains, and operate in resource-constrained environments.
—Weslynne Ashton

Weslynne was recognized by the 2025 Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards and featured on the HBR On Strategy podcast in June 2025 following her masterclass at HBR’s Leaders Who Make a Difference conference.

Read her full article in Harvard Business Review.

Professor Weslynne Ashton

ID faculty member Weslynne Ashton talks about her transdisciplinary approach and research areas.

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Food Systems Action Lab Director Weslynne Ashton on Sustainability, Capitals, and Food Waste