Welcome to the Institute without Boundaries!
Interested? Apply to the Institute without Boundaries here.
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To find out more about our current projects, please visit worldhouse.ca. |
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For questions, concerns, or requests for our publications and application package, please contact the Institute without Boundaries |
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© 2010 George Brown College |
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About Us
The Institute without Boundaries is a Toronto-based studio that works towards collaborative design action and seeks to achieve social, ecological and economic innovation.
Founded in 2002, the Institute consists of a post-graduate program that teaches collaborative design strategy to professionals from diverse backgrounds, a research division that develops projects around curriculum projects and a commercial division that delivers professional design consultation based on Institute methods.
Our inaugural project, Massive Change, explored and sparked a discourse on the future of global design. Our second project, World House, confronted the necessary evolution of shelter by developing housing systems based on principles of sustainability, accessibility, technological responsiveness and ecological balance. In 2007, a model prototype of the World House was constructed and would later be developed into the Canühome, a sustainable wood dwelling that premiered at the Green Living Show in 2008.
At the Institute we see the designer as a problem solver with the ability to effect positive change for humanity. We are a place where students, teachers,
industry and community experts can come together not only as creators and designers, but as ambassadors of hope. We imagine how to live, learn, work, and play together as a global community and seek alternative development patterns and a viable path to a bright future.
The Institute without Boundaries joins programs in Graphic Design, Advanced Digital Design, Game Design, Design Management and Art and Design Foundation at the School of Design at George Brown College. Building on a heritage of leadership in graphic design education, the School of Design has developed a well-defined vision for future growth as a hub for interdisciplinary and digital design education in Canada.
The School has pioneered an educational approach based on design thinking, practice and culture, and fulfills this vision by developing research publications, exhibitions and practice laboratories where students work on real projects for non-profit and community clients. It is a member of ICSID (the International Council of the Societies of Industrial Design) and ICOGRADA (The International Council of Graphic Design Associations). The School also provides the Secretariat for ACID (the Association of Canadian Industrial Designers).
What We Teach
The Institute without Boundaries offers a learning experience that equips graduates with the capacity to solve complex challenges, by focusing the program around real design projects with tangible outcomes. Our students learn by doing – researching and developing original ideas in a realistic community context – with the full support, mentorship and resources of the Institute. Throughout the semester, students engage in a process of research, analysis, conceptualization, proposition, visualization, experimentation, testing, revision and presentation of theories in the public domain.
Projects cover a spectrum of creative practices from a variety of disciplines, and outcomes may include podcasts, videocasts, publications, exhibitions, design prototypes and international conferences.
Students are challenged by world thinkers, mentored by leading practitioners and academics, and work with local and international contacts. They learn about creative methodologies, integrated design process, strategic design planning, and innovative best practices.
Learn more at worldhouse.ca
In the process, students will also gain knowledge of:
- How to ask questions.
- How to listen.
- How to frame and carry out inquiry and research.
- How to interpret information and develop critical insights.
- How to present.
- How to make mistakes.
- How to bravely walk away from good ideas.
- How to design effective communication.
- How to visualize invisible concepts.
- How to find relevance in obscure detail.
- How to use design software.
- How to facilitate creative change.
- How to link business capacity with social interests.
- How to develop and manage projects.
- How to lead and allow others to lead.
- How to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour.
- BACK
Our Aims
Our aim is to produce graduates who, in the words of Buckminster Fuller, are ‘a synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist, and evolutionary strategist.’ To do so, we need to eliminate boundaries between design and other professions, and between designers and the local and global constituents they serve.
Coming out of the Institute without Boundaries, graduates will be able to effectively collaborate in the design process, whether they are designers or not.
We aim to create:
- New design models that are collaborative and consider the ecology, social equity, cultural values and economic properties of the world;
- A vision that affirms the possibility of developing healthy and creatively interactive relationships between the natural environment and human settlements, and;
- An affirmative design agenda that encourages us to fashion beautiful, holistic environments for all constituents.
Learn more at worldhouse.ca
Massive Change
The Institute without Boundaries was founded in 2003 by George Brown College and Bruce Mau Design. In the inaugural project, Massive Change, six students worked in the Bruce Mau Design studio researching, writing, designing an exhibition, a website, a radio show and a book, that explored and sparked a discourse on the future of global design.
In 2004, eight new students carried the exhibition project to fruition. Massive Change premiered at the Vancouver Art Gallery in October 2004. The same year, Phaidon published the Massive Change book and the student-designed Massive Change product line was launched by Umbra. The exhibition moved to the Art Gallery of Ontario in the spring 2005 and then to Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006.
For more information visit www.massivechange.com.
The World House Project
The second project at the Institute without Boundaries explores the evolution of home, ultimately focusing on the larger community. The project aims to produce a knowledge base for housing design that can be applied to local and international contexts. The goal is to generate a housing system that achieves a balance between the extremes of urban sprawl and urban slums and enables people to build sustaining, accessible, and healthy human dwellings and communities. To do so, the Institute has engaged students, teachers, and industry and community experts, locally and worldwide, to work on this challenge collaboratively.
Learn more at worldhouse.ca
City Systems
With a commitment to leadership through design and social innovation, the Institute without Boundaries has been amassing knowledge, wisdom and capacity through design education, research and practice. With the Massive Change Project, the IwB examined the role of design in addressing social, environmental and economic progress. The next project, World House, explored the design of shelter that protects our global home while creating advanced residences that promote inclusion, sustainability, affordability, and technological and environmental responsiveness. In undertaking this work, the students, faculty and industry partners at the Institute have built upon four key pillars:
- Inter-disciplinary collaboration to solve complex problems and issues that face humanity.
- Engaging stakeholders, users, communities and members of the public in the design process.
- Developing holistic design practices that create robust, long-term solutions.
- Taking on the challenge and risk of applied research projects for clients and documenting and exhibiting the results of our learning.
The result of working with these principles has been a rewarding and transformative experience that questions preconceptions, stretches the boundaries of convention, and grows the whole person in extraordinary ways.
As the Institute has progressed from investigating and reporting on the state of design to developing new knowledge systems for design and ultimately to implementing innovative design solutions for clients, it has become apparent that a secure and prosperous future for all requires balancing the desires of individuals with the needs of the community and the imperatives of an increasingly globalized society. Through the projects we have completed we have come to understand that design is fundamental to how we share resources in the world: design creates a framework that expands or diminishes possibilities. Our work has taught us that it is not the world of design that matters but rather the design of the world. Building on this knowledge the Institute moves from the design of the home with the World House Project to addressing the designs of the interconnected built environment with the City Systems Project.
A city is a system of humanity, integral to the development of civilization. The ability to not just live but to thrive, expand and innovate in dense quarters has defined us as a species and shaped our culture and our lives. In the last sixty years, the rate of urbanization and suburbanization of our planet has greatly accelerated. The city is everywhere, and with modern information and communication technologies, can literally connect most of the habitable space on this earth. With this capacity has come a growing realization that how we use our power and skills is more critical than ever.
If we are to create a brighter future we need to act wisely and design more effectively. We need to think of the long term and on behalf of the other species with whom we share our world.
We have built infrastructure to distribute and support the industrialized lifestyle we enjoy. This infrastructure is coming to the end of its useful life span, and much of it is in need of repair, renovation, restructuring or replacement. If we are to make the massive change required for a world house, we will need to reinvent our cities. We will need to coordinate a balance between our personal ambitions, and our need for community and our global responsibility. The City Systems Project will propose new ways of living that will affect this kind of change.
Year One will examine large-scale social housing projects built during the fifties and sixties, and propose how they could be rejuvenated to respond to a world that may no longer be powered by fossil fuels and driven by automobiles. The Toronto Community Housing Corporation will partner with the Institute in year one.
Year Two will look at small towns in rural locations and explore their part in a new global network of human-scaled settlement that is connected and vibrant. Issues explored will include reducing the carbon footprint of small communities and regenerating the countryside.
Year Three will take on edge cities that have grown up around our major urban centres and which have been designed in an almost intractable manner to suit the needs of rampant consumerism.
Year Four will explore how a metropolis can layer and enrich itself through design intervention, transforming itself for the 21st century while maintaining its existing strengths and identity.
The Institute without Boundaries will use the City Systems Project to look at the big picture while also addressing the smallest of details. Our capacity for systems thinking will enable us to generate scalable systems that provide solutions for tomorrow's challenges. We will examine the city at a macro and micro level, understand the mechanisms and façades it is composed of, and explore the past, present and future of civilization and the built environment. We will propose new ways of being, working and creating that will cross the invisible boundaries we have built for ourselves that prevent us from reaching what's next.
To Apply
We are always looking to build our IwB student team and accept applications throughout the year, for a September start date.
Download the application here
Each year, the Institute selects a small group of candidates from an international pool of applicants who work together to research, design and realize a significant global project. We are looking for passionate people interested in joining a creative team interested in solving problems for real clients. Students will conceptualize leading-edge ideas and undertake work to bring these concepts to life.
Candidates are drawn from a diverse range of backgrounds and educational disciplines. Given the nature of the City Systems Project, we are particularly interested in architects, landscape architects, engineers (civil, structural, mechanical), interior and industrial designers, new media experts, communication specialists, sociologists, cultural anthropologists, political scientists, geographers, social historians, scientists, psychologists, environmental designers, journalists, graphic designers, and artists.
Applicants require a post-secondary diploma or degree granted by a recognized institution of higher learning. Under special circumstances, equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree or diploma.
To apply to this program, applicants must submit a complete application form, c.v. or resume, profile, letter of intent, and academic transcripts. Any students for whom English is not their first language are required to submit English proficiency test scores or otherwise show a good comprehension of the English language. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
If you would like to be a student at the Institute without Boundaries or have any questions about the application, please contact our program coordinator Michelle Hotchin, at:
email:
ph: 416-415-5000 ext. 3334
Testimonials
"Having no background in design, the IwB was a unique experience because I learned about different types of design as well as other disciplines by sharing and working with a multidisciplinary team. The experience has been enriching as I am able to analyze and critique projects from different points of view, i.e. construction, aesthetics, functionality, sustainability, universality."
- Ana Hindelang, IwB Year 2
"The Institute is a great place to experiment and a unique collaborative environment. It was exciting to be given the forum to pursue designs that were not commercially viable, yet in many respects advanced in the realm of progress."
- Karl Johnson, IwB Year 2
"The IwB enabled me to learn how to think, rather than what to think. What I liked most was feeling surrounded by expertise, likeminded people and lots of time to further develop myself, not only as a professional but also as a human being, it felt like reading a good book for 10 months."
- Thomas Lommee, IwB Year 1
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do I apply?
A. The Official Application Package is available in .PDF format here. Students are expected to have a minimum of an undergraduate degree, college diploma or equivalent experience. Applicants must submit a complete application form, applicant profile, letter of intent, c.v. or résumé, professional references, and academic transcripts. International students, for whom English is not their first language, are required to submit English proficiency test scores or otherwise show a good comprehension of the English language.
Q. What is the application deadline?
A. We accept applications on an ongoing basis. Offers of Admission are generally issued in the Spring or Summer. Late applications may be considered for either the current year or for the following year, in consultation with the student.
Q. Where do I send my application?
A. This information is included in our Application Form.
Q. What happens once I've applied?
A. Your application will be reviewed and your references may be contacted. You will then be contacted for an interview. A telephone interview may be held in lieu for international students.
Q. I am an international student. Will I need a study permit?
A. To study in Canada, you will need a study permit. For official information about the application policy and procedures, contact a Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) office in Canada, the Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate nearest you, or see the CIC website at www.cic.gc.ca. To contact George Brown's International Centre, please call 416.415.5000 x.2115 or 1-800-265-2002 (Canada and the US) or email .
Q. When does the program start?
A. The academic year begins in late August/early September. The exact date will be communicated to incoming students.
Q. What does the program cost?
A. Tuition for Canadian Citizens and Permanent Residents is approx. $9,000 CAD* while tuition for International Students is approx. $19,500 CAD*. *Please note that tuition fees are subject to change without notice.
Q. Is financial aid available?
A. Canadian students may be eligible for OSAP, or the can apply for a ScotiaLine® personal line of credit that allows graduate students to borrow up to $12,000 per year. While in school, students are required to make interest-only monthly payments. Details are available at www.scotiabank.com, any Scotiabank branch or by calling 1-800-972-6842. Unfortunately, this is not available to International Applicants at this time.
Q. Is student health/dental coverage available?
A. Health benefits are managed by George Brown College’s Student Association. Click here to visit their benefits website.
Q. What other costs are involved aside from tuition?
A. In addition to tuition fees, students pay ancillary fees of approximately $1,000 CAD and a health insurance fee, which is different for domestic and international students. For more information on the health plan, please visit the Student Association benefits website.
Some travel may be required, which will be at the students’ expense. All students are responsible for their own living accommodations and expenses while attending the program. International Students can choose a homestay option from George Brown College’s International Centre. It is also recommended that students bring their own laptop (both Mac and PC are acceptable).
Q. How many hours a week can I expect to devote to this program?
A. Students can expect to work 40+ hours per week in this intensive program. Working part-time is not recommended, as it will be difficult for students to balance a part-time job and full-time study.
Q. Can I visit your studio or discuss my application with someone?
A. Visits and meetings can always be arranged. Please contact our program coordinator, Michelle Hotchin, at
Q. What media will I be working in?
A. Students will engage in the fullest range of creative practices, from research and writing, to photography, filmmaking, design in myriad media, production and project management. The work of the Institute may result in publications, video productions, web sites, exhibitions, and prototypes. It is recommended that students bring a digital camera for some of the work.
Q. What do I receive at the end of the program?
A. Students will receive a Certificate in Interdisciplinary Design Strategy from the Institute without Boundaries at George Brown College.
Contact Us
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THE WORLD HOUSE PROJECT
For details on the World House Project and our current news and events, please go to www.worldhouse.ca
GENERAL QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
We are always interested in hearing your thoughts and feedback! If you have any questions or comments about our program, projects, or website, please contact Michelle Hotchin at
SPONSORS, PARTNERS & AFFILIATES
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, partner or affiliate of the Institute without Boundaries, please download our sponsorship package and contact Michelle Hotchin at
ADMISSIONS
If you would like to be a student at the Institute without Boundaries or have any questions about the application, please contact Michelle Hotchin at
CHARRETTES
If you have an interesting project and would like to do a charrette with the Institute without Boundaries, please contact Michelle Hotchin at