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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Faculty Recognition

Professor Weslynne Ashton Featured in WTTW’s Chicago Works Series

Ashton Examines Chicago's Recycling Infrastructure and Opportunity for Growth

December 16, 2025

Weslynne Ashton on Chicago Works from WTTW-TV

Professor Weslynne Ashton appears in WTTW’s Chicago Works with Geoffrey Baer, offering her expertise on the systems behind Chicago’s recycling infrastructure. In the episode, she examines what happens to recyclables after they leave our bins—and reveals significant opportunities for the city to improve.

With Chicago’s recycling rate at just 10 percent, Professor Ashton notes that the city has substantial room for growth.

“
Chicago has one of the lowest recycling rates of cities across the country. I think there's a lot of hope. At ten percent, we can only go up!
—Weslynne Ashton
Chicago Works now streaming from WTTW

The Chicago Works program examines the system that processes our waste, from the high- and low-tech machinery at Back-of-the-Yards facilities to the barriers preventing better outcomes citywide.

Systems thinking is central to Weslynne’s work and our approach to design at ID. Whether examining recycling infrastructure, urban systems, or circular economy models, we help people observe the systems they’re surrounded by and imagine new pathways forward.

The Emmy Award-winning series Chicago Works, hosted by WTTW producer Geoffrey Baer, celebrates the people and processes that keep the city running, often in ways we never see, revealing how Chicago earns its reputation as “the city that works.”

Watch the full episode on WTTW.

Professor Weslynne Ashton

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

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

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.

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Weslynne Ashton Recognized By the Thinkers50 Distinguished Achievement Awards

Weslynne Ashton Discusses Food Waste on Fox32

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