overview

We are young – having graduated our first class in 1998. However, Industrial Design at Virginia Tech has been a part of the fundamental thinking of CAUS since its curricular inception in 1967 by Charles Burchard and Olivio Ferrari, as descendants of the Bauhaus and the Ulm Graduate School of Design. The legacy endures through our emphasis on the workshop as an integral extension of the design studio. This relationship forms the basis of an educational experience shared by industrial design, architecture, landscape architecture and interior design as our Foundation Program – the first two studios in the freshman year. It is this history and continuum that distinguishes us among industrial design programs. Our program is framed by an intensive form-to-product studio in sophomore year and a senior thesis just prior to graduation. Our objective is that the arc of the curriculum moves toward self- and community-direction by graduation. One merit of a studio-based course of study and 24/7 studio access is the organic formation of community education; each graduating class passes on a tradition of honing each others skills to host media workshops for younger classes. This ritual, our modular course system, and our kiva™ (a central flexible collaborative workspace) empower our current trajectory of interdisciplinary projects, and are simultaneously a contemporary expression of our history.

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Working links: 'awards', 'courses', 'faculty', 'modules'. Check site for updates.