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Illinois Institute of Technology. Institute of Design

 Organization

Biography

The Institute of Design was established in 1939 by László Moholy-Nagy as the School of Design in Chicago. Moholy-Nagy was one of the early masters of the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, Germany. In 1937, a group of Chicago business people representing the Association of Arts and Industries enticed Moholy to come to Chicago from London with their offer to establish a school to carry on the work of the original Bauhaus. The New Bauhaus: American School of Design opened its doors in October 1937, in the remodeled former Marshall Field mansion at 1905 South Prairie Avenue. From the venue of the New Bauhaus in Chicago, Moholy-Nagy championed Bauhaus methods even as he adapted them in his creative output of paintings, photographs, sculptures, photograms, and films as well as in professional design assignments undertaken for private industry and government, and in developing course curricula for the school's classes. The school closed a year later due to a lack of funding, but in February, 1939, László Moholy-Nagy opened his own school, the School of Design in Chicago. Its first campus was at 247 East Ontario Street. In 1944 the school was reorganized as the Institute of Design in Chicago (ID).

In November, 1946, Moholy-Nagy died of leukemia, and was succeeded as director by the architect, Serge Chermayeff. Vision in Motion, the definitive statement of Moholy's educational philosophy, was published posthumously in 1947. In 1949, the Institute of Design merged with Illinois Institute of Technology and the school initially remained at its downtown location. In 1955, it moved into S. R. Crown Hall, the building Mies van der Rohe had designed for IIT's architecture program, which he headed. Today, the Institute of Design is an integral part of IIT, offering a graduate level program and functioning as a college of the university.

Found in 50 Collections and/or Records:

Alain Findeli papers, 1937-1992

 Collection
Identifier: 038.01.09
Description of the Collection Papers of Alain Findeli, Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Montreal (retired 2007), consisting of research files and correspondence amassed in support of his doctoral dissertation, "Du Bauhaus a Chicago: Les Annees d'enseignement de Laszlo Moholy-Nagy" ("From Bauhaus to Chicago: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's Teaching Years") (1989, University of Paris). This collection includes a copy of Findeli's dissertation. Other primary materials (in copied form) include a copy of Lloyd C....
Dates: circa 1937-1992

Allen Porter papers, 2005-2007

 Collection
Identifier: 008.05.05
Description of the Collection

Materials related to Allen Porter's recollections of the early years of the Institute of Design, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Porter's career as a designer.

Dates: 2005-2007

Allen Porter recording, 1947

 Collection
Identifier: 008.05.07
Abstract

According to the donor, the original recordings were made on an early recording cutting machine which one of the students brought to the class. The poems were written by passing a pad of paper around the room with each student writing one line of poetry on a given topic. Each student would fold the page after writing his/her line so the next writer would not see what was already written.

Dates: 1947

Architecture and Campus Building Dedication collection, 1952-2005

 Collection
Identifier: 037.06.04
Description of the Collection Materials pertaining to architecture and Bauhaus-inspired activities at Illinois Institute of Technology, including the university's architecture and design programs. Items included as follows: Program from the October 26, 1952 dedication of the Chapel of Saint Saviour (Carr Chapel) on the campus of IIT, Two sheets of blank letterhead bearing the printed name Mies van der Rohe from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Chicago office (address and phone on the letterhead are as follows: 230 East Ohio...
Dates: 1952-2005

Benjamin de Brie Taylor papers, 1930-2003

 Collection
Identifier: 038.01.01
Content Description Papers of Benjamin de Brie Taylor, artist and educator, including correspondence, personal records, professional files, and artwork. Personal correspondence includes letters from family and friends as well as business exchanges. Extensive correspondence with mother Gertrude de Brie and sister Alix contain substantial biographical and family information. Correspondence with mother and father over the 1940s could provide interesting perspectives on war time and postwar Europe- some with...
Dates: Majority of material found within 1930-2003

Charles A. Swedlund papers, 1973-2012

 Collection
Identifier: 038.01.47
Content Description

Papers of Charles A. Swedlund (b. 1935, Chicago), including two printed volumes of his photographs ("Multiple Exposures with the Figure," 1973; and "The Whole Show," 2012), along with correspondence between Swedlund and D. Dale Walker, Senior Major Gifts Officer at ID, from 2012.

Dates: 1973-2012

Charles Dee Sharp film, ca. 1975

 Collection
Identifier: 008.01.24
Description of the Collection Film (color and sound) of Illinois Institute of Technology campus and classroom scenes with shots of Chicago. Per Sharp, the film was made ca. 1975, most likely produced at the request of the President's Office. Credits read, "A Film by Charles Dee Sharp, Produced at ID." Sharp taught filmmaking at the Institute of Design from 1965 to 1980.The film opens with a sunrise and a low angle pan along State St. (as though shot from a moving vehicle). Scenes include students...
Dates: 1975

Charles L. Owen papers, 1980-1993

 Collection
Identifier: 008.01.14
Description of the Collection Eight reports and associated public relations materials authored or edited by Charles L. Owen concerning four class projects he directed as a professor in Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design. The projects include Project Phoenix, Aquatecture, Aerotecture, and Nanoplastics. The reports included are listed as follows: Project Phoenix: Macro-Design Proposals for Confronting Global...
Dates: 1980-1993

Charles L. Owen presentation, 2010

 Collection
Identifier: 008.01.15
Abstract

This material was created as a slide program presented by Charles L. Owen as the 3rd Annual IIT Archives Lecture (Oct. 28, 2010).

Dates: 2010

Chicago Morning

 Collection
Identifier: 008.01.05
Description of the Collection Reel-to-reel tapes, video and audio, related to the production of a film by Institute of Design students made on April 16, 1952. Collection includes the following items as identified on the canisters or reels: 1. IIT Work Print, Chicago Morning; 16 mm, b&w, sound, 547 feet, 7½" d., ca. 15 min. [on hub] 2. Boris Yakovlett "Chicago Morning" Negative, Dup Negative Picture [on hub] 3. Boris Yakovlett "Chicago Morning" 1952, 16 mm, b&w, Sound, 7½" d., ca. 15 min., multiple splices [On...
Dates: 1952

Additional filters:

Record Type
Collection 45
Archival Component 5
 
Subject
Design 5
Photography 5
Modernism (Art) 4
College buildings -- Illinois -- Chicago 3
Institute of Design -- Curricula 3
∨ more
Product design 3
Universities and colleges--Graduate work 3
Art--Study and teaching 2
Bauhaus 2
Commencement ceremonies 2
Education--Curricula 2
Illinois Institute of Technology. Institute of Design -- Faculty 2
Illinois Institute of Technology. Institute of Design -- Students 2
Industrial design 2
Photography, Artistic 2
Student publications 2
Universities and colleges--Faculty 2
Abstract impressionism 1
Anniversaries 1
Architecture students 1
Architecture, Domestic 1
Art portfolios 1
Art, Abstract 1
Art--Exhibitions 1
Book design 1
Branding (Marketing) 1
Brochures 1
Campus planning 1
Chicago (Ill.) -- Buildings, structures, etc 1
Class reunions 1
College buildings 1
College campuses -- Illinois -- Chicago 1
College students 1
College students--Recruiting 1
Competitions 1
Dadaist poetry 1
Dedication services 1
Design and construction 1
Directories 1
Exhibitions 1
Fund raising 1
Global warming 1
Graphic design (Typography) 1
Historic sites 1
Historic sites -- Illinois -- Chicago 1
Illinois Institute of Technology -- Administration 1
Illinois Institute of Technology -- Alumni and alumnae 1
Illinois Institute of Technology -- Faculty 1
Illinois Institute of Technology -- Students 1
Los Angeles (Calif.) 1
Methodology 1
Motion pictures 1
Museum exhibits -- Illinois -- Chicago 1
Oral histories 1
Photographs 1
Poetry 1
Project PHOENIX 1
Records (Documents) 1
Serial publications 1
Street life -- Illinois -- Chicago 1
Structural design 1
Students--Social life and customs 1
System design 1
Technological innovations 1
Universities and colleges--Alumni and alumnae 1
Universities and colleges--Mergers 1
Urban transportation -- Illinois -- Chicago 1
World War, 1939-1945 1
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Paul V. Galvin Library

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