Institute of Design (IIT)

Institute of Design (IIT)
Name	Institute of Design (IIT)
Established	1937
Type	Graduate school
Parent	Illinois Institute of Technology
Location	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Dean	N/A
Website	N/A

Institute of Design (IIT) is a graduate design school within the Illinois Institute of Technology located in Chicago. It traces its lineage to avant-garde movements and transatlantic exchanges involving European émigrés and American institutions, shaping modern design pedagogy and practice. The school has influenced industrial design, interaction design, systems thinking, and research methods through faculty, alumni, and collaborations with corporations, museums, and government agencies.

History

Founded in 1937, the school emerged from connections among émigré practitioners and institutions such as the Bauhaus, New Bauhaus, Ulrich Genth, László Moholy-Nagy, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Breuer. Early links included exchanges with Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Harvard University, Pratt Institute, Cooper Union, Art Institute of Chicago, and Chicago School of Architecture. During the mid-20th century the institute collaborated with corporations and agencies such as General Electric, Bell Labs, Ford Motor Company, Procter & Gamble, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, National Science Foundation, Office of Strategic Services, United States Navy, United States Air Force, and Smithsonian Institution. The school’s evolution intersected with figures and movements including Herbert Bayer, György Kepes, Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, Dieter Rams, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Calder, Ben Shahn, György Kepes, and policy initiatives like G.I. Bill. Postwar developments tied the school to networks involving AIGA, IDSA, Interaction Design Association, Design Management Institute, and exhibitions at Cooper Hewitt, Victoria and Albert Museum, Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern, and São Paulo Biennial.

Academics and Programs

Academic offerings include professional and research degrees with curricula influenced by experimental pedagogy and methods used in collaborations with Northwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Yale University, Pratt Institute, Columbia University, New York University, University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology, Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Pennsylvania. Programs emphasize studio practice, design research, and systems approaches, drawing on traditions linked to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Eero Saarinen, Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss, Norman Bel Geddes, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, and Richard Rogers. Degree pathways reference methodologies associated with László Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Buckminster Fuller, Victor Papanek, Richard Buckminster Fuller, Don Norman, Bill Moggridge, John Maeda, Brenda Laurel, Alan Kay, Paul Rand, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Stefan Sagmeister, Irma Boom, Karim Rashid, Patricia Urquiola, and Hella Jongerius.

Campus and Facilities

The campus sits within Chicago’s architectural milieu alongside landmarks by Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Daniel Burnham, Louis Sullivan, Adler & Sullivan, Holabird & Roche, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Perkins and Will, Kohn Pedersen Fox, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Foster + Partners, SOM, Gensler, NBBJ, HOK, Grimshaw Architects, KPF, and nearby cultural institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Science and Industry, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Center, Wrigley Field, and United Center. Facilities include studios, fabrication labs, and digital workshops equipped with tools paralleling those found in research centers at MIT Media Lab, Stanford d.school, Harvard GSD, Yale School of Architecture, Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, Cooper Union, Royal College of Art, University College London, Delft University of Technology, and École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. Fabrication resources reference technologies used by practitioners and firms like Stratasys, 3D Systems, Haas Automation, Epson, Roland DG, Microsoft Research, Google X, Apple Inc., Adobe Systems, and Autodesk.

Research and Centers

Research areas and affiliated centers engage with topics linked to human–computer interaction, service design, systems engineering, healthcare innovation, sustainability, transportation planning, and urbanism. Collaborations occur with entities such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, World Bank, United Nations, US Department of Transportation, Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, Amtrak, NASA, European Space Agency, Toyota Research Institute, Ford Research, Microsoft Research, Google Research, IBM Research, Bell Labs, Siemens, Philips, GE Research, Siemens Healthineers, Roche, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, IDEO, Frog Design, Pentagram, Arup, Atkins, Aurecon, WSP Global, Buro Happold, and academic partners including MIT Media Lab, Stanford HCI Group, Carnegie Mellon Human-Computer Interaction Institute, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, and Harvard School of Public Health.

Admissions and Student Life

Admissions processes align with graduate practice programs similar to Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons School of Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Yale School of Art, Columbia GSAPP, University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Harvard Graduate School of Design, MIT School of Architecture and Planning, and Georgia Tech College of Design. Student life connects to networks and activities involving AIGA Student Groups, IDSA Student Chapters, Student Government Association, Association of Graduate Schools, Black Student Union, Hispanic Student Association, Women in Design, Queer Student Alliance, American Society of Landscape Architects Student Chapter, IEEE Student Branch, ACM Student Chapter, Entrepreneurship clubs at Illinois Tech, and civic partnerships with Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago Design Museum, Chicago Arts Districts, Arts Alliance Illinois, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago Humanities Festival, and regional incubators like 1871 Chicago.

Notable Alumni and Faculty

Alumni and faculty roster includes figures and collaborators connected to László Moholy-Nagy, György Kepes, Herbert Bayer, Buckminster Fuller, Charles and Ray Eames, Don Norman, Victor Papanek, Bruce Mau, John Maeda, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Massimo Vignelli, Dieter Rams, Tinker Hatfield, Jeffrey Veen, Susan Kare, Bill Moggridge, Ezio Manzini, Richard Buchanan, Allan Chochinov, Thomas Fisher, David Kelley, Tim Brown, Brenda Laurel, Alan Kay, Bill Buxton, Hiroshi Ishii, Terry Winograd, Ben Fry, Stuart Kauffman, Jon Kolko, Julie Zhuo, Kim Colin, John Maeda, Ellen Lupton, Paola Antonelli, Nicholas Negroponte, Kevin Lynch, Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, Rem Koolhaas, Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Sverre Fehn, Moshe Safdie, Shigeru Ban, Annie Leibovitz, Garry Winogrand, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman, Nan Goldin, Andreas Gursky, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ai Weiwei, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson].

Category:Design schools in the United States