Welcome to the College of Design
at Arizona State University
Comprised of a dynamic grouping of disciplines—architecture, design studies, industrial design, interior design, landscape architecture, planning, real estate development, and visual communication design—the College of Design is at the forefront of the New American University agenda at ASU.
If there is a watchword for the college it is surely context. High-impact design is dependent upon extreme attentiveness to the context in which one is operating, regardless of scale or situation. Accordingly, the college invests our students with the critical, technical, and professional skills required to reveal and address the most pressing issues of our time. Both students and faculty in the college are immersed in the global, regional, economic, and environmental questions that are shaping the twenty-first century. Equipped with sharp analytic skills as a precursor to the process of invention, they are making a difference. The work emerging from our studios, as demonstrated within this website, is leading to policy decisions in government, changing the physical and urban condition of the Phoenix area, altering the business thinking of our corporate partners, and making the knowable visible.
Framing all of the work within the college is attentiveness to sustainable practice and an examination of the world that we are creating for generations to follow. Like never before, design has a sense of urgency and a renewed mission within the context of a research university. More than the appropriate selection of materials, methods, and delivery techniques associated with conventional problem-solving, a truly sustainable perspective demands a complete interrogation of assumptions and the dismissal of the notion of design as an isolated activity. Strong partnerships with our colleagues in construction and engineering, business, law, and public policy—many of which have already been forged—is essential if we are to chart a course forward that is comprehensive and viable within the network of forces that govern our lives.
ASU is uniquely situated in a rapidly expanding and evolving state, one that is inclusive of social, cultural, and resource challenges reflective of the concerns of the nation. The College of Design is expected to play a leading role in the advancement of the region and its long-term success. Graduates of the college, having participated in this immense project, will be leaders within their respective professions wherever their careers may take them. We again welcome you to join us in this enriching enterprise and a future filled with the widest array of options.
Mark Searle
Interim Dean
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