Introduction
In 2003, the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston established a new degree program in Industrial Design. It was the first of its kind in a four-state region covering Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and New Mexico. The new program emerged from a well established and respected university located in one of the United States’ largest and most dynamic urban centers – Houston, Texas. With resources unique to the metro area, such as NASA, Texas Media Center and diverse industrial entities, the resources and environment provided an ideal learning context for the discipline of industrial design.
" We want to get out in front of the future," says Joe Mashburn, dean of the Hines College of Architecture. "We want to give you a kitchen that makes your coffee, fries your bacon, and reminds you when you're out of oranges. Like architecture, industrial design bridges the gap between art and engineering. It's part of the process of making our environment more livable, efficient, and beautiful." By engaging with the College of Architecture's design studios and the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA), the new program in Industrial Design is expanding its design boundaries and forging to become a program to produce relevant designers who can respond to the Information Age.
Student projects, clockwise: Sylvain Merlin & Ayham Rizqallah: Lunar Rover, Bryce Gibson: Tsunami Relief Utensil, Andrew Lee: Solar water purification system.
