The Institute of Design (ID) is a graduate school of the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

, a private university in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. The Institute of Design was founded in 1937 as "The New Bauhaus" by

László Moholy-Nagy László Moholy-Nagy (; ; born László Weisz; July 20, 1895 – November 24, 1946) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian painter and photographer as well as a professor in the Bauhaus school. He was highly influenced by Constructivism (art), con ...

, a

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

teacher (taught: 1923–1928). This school is a direct American descendant of the German Bauhaus. The school focuses on systemic and human-centered design with the following graduate-level degree programs:
Master of Design
(MDes)
Master of Design + MBA
(MDes + MBA) * Master of Design & Master of Public Administration (MDes + MPA) * Master of Design Methods (MDM) * PhD in Design

History

After a spell in London, Bauhaus master

, at the invitation of Chicago's Association of Art and Industry, moved to Chicago in 1937 to start a new design school, which he named The New Bauhaus. The philosophy of the school was basically unchanged from that of the original German Bauhaus, and its first headquarters was the Prairie Avenue mansion that architect

Richard Morris Hunt Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of architecture of the United States. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 ...

designed for department store magnate

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field's, Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of qua ...

. Due to financial problems the school briefly closed in 1938. However, Walter Paepcke, Chairman of the

Container Corporation of America Container Corporation of America (CCA) was founded in 1926 and manufactured corrugated boxes. In 1968 CCA merged with Montgomery Ward & Company, Inc., becoming MARCOR. MARCOR maintained separate management for the operations of each company, but ...

and an early champion of industrial design in America, soon offered his personal support, and in 1939, Moholy-Nagy re-opened the school as the Chicago School of Design. In 1944, this became the Institute of Design, and in 1949 it became part of the new

university system and also the first institution in the United States to offer a PhD in design. Moholy authored an account of his efforts to develop the curriculum of the School of Design in his book ''Vision in Motion''. Archival materials are held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

. The Institute of Design Collection includes articles, letters, photographs, and other materials documenting the institute's history and works by faculty and students. Select archival film materials are held at Chicago Film Archives, who store and provide access to a handful of Institute of Design films.

Educational programs

The Institute of Design offers two professional degrees, the Master of Design (MDes) and the Master of Design Methods (MDM), as well as a research degree, the PhD, which was the first doctoral program in design in the United States, a MDes/MPA program, and a dual MDes/MBA degree program, also the first of its kind, with th
IIT Stuart School of Business
At one time, the Institute of Design offered a Bachelor of Science in Design degree, with specialties in Photography, Product Design and Communication Design. The Bachelor's program was halted in 1998.

Conferences

The Institute of Design formerly organized two large design conferences in the Chicago area: The Strategy Conference for international executives and designers who come together to address how businesses can use design to explore emerging opportunities, and the Design Research Conference, organized by students, exploring emerging trends in design research.

Directors

*1937–1945:

*1946–1951: Serge Chermayeff *1951–1955: Crombie Taylor (acting) *1955–1969:

Jay Doblin Jay Doblin (December 10, 1920 – May 11, 1989) was an American industrial designer and educator, best known for his contribution to the field of design in particular his work related to systems thinking, design methods and design theory in genera ...

*1969–1974: James S. Montague (acting) *1974–1982: various *1982–1986: Dale Fahnstrom *1986–2017: Patrick Whitney *2017–2022: Denis Weil *2023–present : Anijo Mathew

Prominent former faculty

* George Anselevicius (1949–1952) *

Alexander Archipenko Alexander Porfyrovych Archipenko (February 25, 1964) was a Ukrainian-American avant-garde artist, sculpture, sculptor, and graphic designer, graphic artist, active in France and the United States. He was one of the first to apply the principles o ...

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

* Harry Callahan, Photography (1947–1961) *

, Director (1954–1968) *

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

* Michael Higgins, Head of Visual Design * George Fred Keck *

György Kepes György Kepes (; October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the School of Design, t ...

* Michael McCoy and Katherine McCoy (1995–2003) * Sharon Poggenpohl Professor and coordinator the PhD program (1987-2013) *

Ralph Rapson Ralph Rapson (September 13, 1914 – March 29, 2008) was Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota for 30 years. He was an interdisciplinary designer, one of the world's oldest practicing architects at his death at ag ...

(1942–1946) * Arthur Siegel, Photography (1946–1949 and 1967–1977) *

Aaron Siskind Aaron Siskind (December 4, 1903 – February 8, 1991) was an American photographer whose work focuses on the details of things, presented as flat surfaces to create a new image independent of the original subject. He was closely involved with, if ...

, Photography (1951–1971) * Robert Bruce Tague, Architecture * Konrad Wachsmann, Advanced Building Research (Director) (1950-1964) * Hugo Weber (1949- 1955) * Massimo Vignelli (1958–1960)

Former names and locations

New Bauhaus - American School of Design *1938: 1905 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago The School of Design in Chicago *1939–1945: 247 E. Ontario Street, Chicago The Institute of Design *1945–1946: 1009 N. State Street, Chicago *1946–1956: 632 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago *1956–1989: S.R. Crown Hall IIT campus on South State Street *1989–1996: 10 West 35th Street (ITRI on IIT campus) *1996–2016: 350 N. LaSalle Blvd, Chicago *2016-2018: 565 W. Adams St, Chicago *2018–Present: Kaplan Institute, 3137 S Federal St., Chicago

Prominent alumni

Robert Brownjohn Robert Brownjohn (August 8, 1925 – August 1, 1970) was an American graphic designer known for blending formal graphic design concepts with wit and 1960s pop culture. He is best known for his motion picture title sequences, especially ''From ...

, artist and graphic designer *

Ivan Chermayeff Ivan Chermayeff HonRDI (June 6, 1932 – December 2, 2017) was an American graphic designer and artist. He is best known as co-founder of graphic design firm Chermayeff & Geismar. Chermayeff created logotypes for the Smithsonian Institution, Ha ...

, Principal of

Chermayeff & Geismar Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (formerly Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar and Chermayeff & Geismar) is a New York–based branding and graphic design firm. It is currently led by partners Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv. About Brownjohn, Chermayeff ...

, son of former Institute of Design director Serge Chermayeff and designer of the Chase Manhattan Bank logo among other achievements * Linda Connor, photography * Burton Kramer, graphic designer, artist, A.G.I., Order of Ontario, D.Des (Hon) O.C.A.D.U. * June Leaf, (attended 1947-1948, M.A. Art Education in 1954) painter, sculptor * Estes W. Mann (Armour Institute), Memphis based architect who produced numerous NRHP listed residences * Kenneth Josephson, photographer * Ray Metzker, photographer * Richard Nickel, photographer and architectural preservationist * Louis Sauer (attended 1949 to 1953), architect * Art Sinsabaugh, (B.A. 1949, M.S. 1967) American photographer; founded and led the photography/cinematography department, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 1959–83; founding member, Society for Photographic Education * Roger Sweet (MS 1960), Toy inventor and creator of

He-Man He-Man is a superhero and the protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books, and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by his superhuman s ...

from Mattel * Madeline Tourtelot, artist, founder of the Peninsula School of Art * John Henry Waddell, sculptor * Claire Zeisler, fiber artist

References

External links

Institute of Design web site

Institute of Design's biweekly student newsletter, the New Idiom

IIT's Galvin Library Institute of Design exhibit

Chicago New Bauhaus School Alumnis
[sic] {{authority control Illinois Institute of Technology Design schools in the United States Universities and colleges established in 1937 1937 establishments in Illinois