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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Fall 2023 Immersion Takes AI Out of the Classroom

ID and Politecnico di Milano Students Tour Chicago; Hear From Business & Cultural Leaders

November 30, 2023

Fall 2023 Immersion: Design + AI

The Institute of Design hosted its fourth MDM Immersion, returning to the theme of AI + Design.

In a 6-day experiential program, Immersion participants toured Chicago, visiting studios and businesses where leaders discussed design and its critical role in the age of AI.

AI + Design Immersion

A 6-day experiential program touring Chicago and ending at ID’s home on Illinois Tech’s Mies Campus. 

Partner

ID presented the Immersion in partnership with the renowned Politecnico di Milano’s Graduate School of Management and School of Design.

PoliMi will host ID for a Spring 2024 Immersion in Milan.

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