Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design
Incorporating the disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, the Sustainable Design major focuses on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society.
Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design
The College of Fine and Applied Arts recognized a unique opportunity to draw on the expertise from across the college to create a new degree program: the Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Design. Incorporating the disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning, this undergraduate major will focus on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society. Through a combination of existing and newly developed classes, students will experience an innovative, interdisciplinary, and unique course of study that will prepare them to enter jobs in the public or private sector guiding institutions and society to greater sustainability or continue their educational pursuits in a variety of graduate programs.
Why a Degree in Sustainable Design?
- Rigorous broad-based education in design with a focus on building sustainable communities through intentional design of environmentally sensitive products, buildings, landscapes, and cities
- Draws on disciplines of design, architecture, landscape architecture, and urban and regional planning
- Focuses on the places, things, systems, and policies needed to help solve problems in a sustainable society
- Prepares you for the future in a sustainable world where ideas from many disciplines will be necessary to solve complex problems
- After graduation
- Enter jobs in design firms, planning agencies, industry, nonprofits, and public policy institutes
- Continue preparation in a variety of graduate or professional programs such as landscape architecture, architecture, industrial design, graphic design, urban design, and urban planning or accelerated graduate design programs at Illinois
Study sustainable design at Illinois, a 2022 Gold STARS campus for sustainability performance awarded by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Opportunities and Events for Sustainable Design Majors
Join Sustainable Design and related organizations in these ongoing events and activities, virtually and in person! As the faculty committee learns of relevant opportunities related to the major, they will be listed here. RSOs can email sustaindesign@illinois.edu to have their events included.
BSSD Newsletter Archives
Catch up on news, opportunities, and events through our weekly newsletter! Subscribe here.
We're on Instagram!
@arthistoryatuiuc In conjunction with the exhibition Another Place: Storymaking the Entangled Prairie.
Please come hear the conversation about putting exhibitions together — from concept to collaboration, from research to installation. We’ll also be thinking about who exhibitions are for, how viewers shape meaning, and what it means to create space with — not just for — the public.
Hope to see you there!!
Sustainable Design Students, this will be a great conversation between Design historians and thinking about audiences!
BSSD students check out what`s happening!
📚 March 2- Shannon Mattern Artist Lecture | on Zoom | 5:30 pm
Shannon Mattern is the Director of Creative Research at the Metropolitan New York Library Council. In this talk, she will explore the cross-disciplinary design practice through which the Metropolitan New York Library Council’s new Library Field project is coming into fruition. We’ll examine how myriad design fields — from traffic and water engineering, to landscape and interface design, to wayfinding and media curation — converge in this project, sited on a plot of land just north of New York City. Go to the link in bio to register in advance.
🖇️ March 6- Supply Chain Management Conference | 8:30 am
The focus of this conference is sustainable and socially responsible supply chains. This conference will 1.) bring together leading academic researchers and industry professionals who are committed to sustainable and socially responsible supply chains, 2.) provide a platform for students to learn about recent research and development in these areas. https://giesbusiness.illinois.edu/business-administration/supply-chain-management-conference
📐 March 8- Deadline to apply for Architecture Minor
🍁 March 9- Summer and Fall class schedules are available on Course Explorer
📖 March 13- Registration Deadline for Undergraduate Research Symposium
Are you interested in presenting your design research to a larger audience, connecting with fellow researchers across campus, gaining valuable feedback on your designs, and bolstering your resume? Design projects are welcome, and students can present individually or in groups. Applications, including title and abstract, are due March 13th, and the symposium takes place on April 30th. Learn more and apply here: https://undergradresearch.illinois.edu/symposium.html
🏖️ March 14- Spring Break!
As career month wraps up, we`re looking back with appreciation for the alumni who kicked us off with a BSSD mentorship event and round table. Here, they share some of the skills they`ve found essential working in the Sustainable Design field.
🌱 What if we created a library outside? What if the clouds and leaves, snowflakes and weeds, roots and rocks were our collection?
Join us on Zoom, Monday, March 2nd at 5:30 pm for a special guest lecture with Shannon Mattern. Use the QR code or go to the link in bio to register in advance.
Shannon Mattern is the Director of Creative Research at the Metropolitan New York Library Council. In this talk, she will explore the cross-disciplinary design practice through which the Metropolitan New York Library Council’s new Library Field project is coming into fruition. We’ll examine how myriad design fields — from traffic and water engineering, to landscape and interface design, to wayfinding and media curation — converge in this project, sited on a plot of land just north of New York City.
Previously, Mattern held full professorships in media studies, anthropology, and art history at The New School and the University of Pennsylvania. Her research and teaching focus on media architectures, information infrastructures, and urban technologies. She is the author of The New Downtown Library: Designing with Communities; Deep Mapping the Media City; Code and Clay, Data and Dirt: 5000 Years of Urban Media; and A City Is Not a Computer. She also contributes a regular long-form column about urban data and mediated infrastructures to Places Journal and regularly collaborates on public design and interactive projects and exhibitions. In 2025, she was the Kluge Chair in Modern Culture at the Library of Congress and the Design Indexer in residence at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. You can find her at wordsinspace.net.
Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting 12 Sustainable Design Program Alumni for a mentorship event. Alums provided portfolio reviews for current students and participated in a round table, sharing their diverse career paths and advice for getting the most out of the program.
Make sure to check out what’s coming up for the next two weeks!
📚 Feb 16- Opportunity Scholarship Application Closes at 11:59 pm.
This scholarship is designed to provide financial support to students within the Sustainable Design program, enabling them to pursue academic and professional opportunities that would otherwise be unattainable without additional funding. For Spring 2026, scholarships of $300 or $500 will be awarded to selected students based on the clearly defined benefit to the student’s academic or professional growth. Link in bio.
👥 Feb 17- LAS Get Experience Expo | 4-6 pm | Illini Union Ballroom ABC
Hosted by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, this expo is designed for students to explore research programs, internships, volunteering, and academic opportunities, network with faculty and peers, and take their first steps toward academic and career success! Open to all Illinois undergraduates. Register at https://las.illinois.edu/research/students/fair
💼 Feb 17- Essential Strategies to Land a Job | 5-6 pm | Temple Buell Hall Rm 104
Learn how to comfortably navigate interview and networking scenarios to help you land a job. Understand what is expected of you and what each question is meant to find out. There will be time to practice the information you have learned and to ask your questions. Register on Handshake
📕 Feb 23 - Beinecke Scholarship Application Closes
This is a merit- and need-based scholarship that funds juniors in the arts, humanities, and social sciences who will pursue a Ph.D. or MFA degree. The Beinecke Scholarship provides $5,000 to recipients immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. For more information, visit topscholars.illinois.edu.
👾 Feb 27- Design Illinois | 9 am- 3 pm | Siebel Center for Design
Design Illinois is an in-person event that connects employers with emerging graphic, UI/UX, industrial, and sustainable designers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Attending students should have their profile completed by Feb 16, including: resume, cover letter, and portfolio.
💕 BSSD Students, Be our Valentine!! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments! Make sure to apply for the Opportunity Scholarship, which closes Monday, February 16th at 11:59pm. Link in bio for application and scholarship details
💟 This scholarship is designed to provide financial support to students within the Sustainable Design program, enabling them to pursue academic and professional opportunities that would otherwise be unattainable without additional funding. For Spring 2026, scholarships of $300 or $500 will be awarded to selected students based on the clearly defined benefit to the student’s academic or professional growth.
📢 BSSD students, check out all of the professional development opportunities during career fair month and remember the deadline to submit your portfolio for Design Illinois on Handshake is Feb 15! Make sure to take advantage of all these opportunities!
