Bruce Mau Challenges Columbia Students to Design for the Full Human Experience

Honorary doctorate recipient Bruce Mau joined Columbia College Chicago students for an immersive presentation examining design beyond visual-first approaches. Photos by John Ginocchio. Honorary doctorate recipient Bruce Mau joined Columbia College Chicago students for an immersive presentation examining design beyond visual-first approaches. Photos by John Ginocchio.
Students gather in the Conaway Center for “Design for All the Senses,” an in-person presentation by designer Bruce Mau hosted by the Interior Architecture program in the School of Design. Students gather in the Conaway Center for “Design for All the Senses,” an in-person presentation by designer Bruce Mau hosted by the Interior Architecture program in the School of Design.
Students engage in a sensory deprivation exercise during Bruce Mau’s presentation, illustrating how design choices can heighten or dull perception. Students engage in a sensory deprivation exercise during Bruce Mau’s presentation, illustrating how design choices can heighten or dull perception.
Bruce Mau, one of the most influential voices in contemporary design, visited Columbia College Chicago for an immersive presentation that asked students to rethink how design engages the senses.

Blindfolds on. Phones away. Senses heightened. 

That was the starting point when Bruce Mau (HDR ‘11) joined students for “Design for All the Senses,” an immersive, in-person presentation hosted by the Interior Architecture program in the School of Design on December 11, 2025. 

Held in the Conaway Center, the event challenged visual-first approaches to design, inviting students to consider how sound, touch, smell, and spatial awareness shape human experience. Mau drew from “MC24,” his book outlining 24 principles for applying design thinking to complex systems, leadership, and everyday life, weaving together scientific research, cultural observation, and personal storytelling. 

Throughout the session, Mau asked students to slow down and become more aware of their own sensory responses. Moments of intentional deprivation—such as being seated and blindfolded—were used to illustrate how design choices can heighten or dull perception. The exercise reinforced a central idea of the talk: design is not neutral, and every decision carries emotional, ethical, and physical consequences. 

“At first it felt very uncomfortable not being able to see what was happening around me,” says Interior Architecture student Jasmine Vera. “Immediately after putting on the blindfold, I felt my other senses instinctively get heightened. It made me think more about how design is so much more than what you see—it should evoke thought and feeling based on the other senses a space triggers.” 

For students nearing the end of finals week, the event offered a reframing of design practice—one rooted in empathy, systems thinking, and responsibility. Mau emphasized that designers shape the environments and systems people live inside every day, making sensory awareness essential to creating more inclusive and humane work. 

The visit brought a global design conversation directly into Columbia classrooms, giving students the opportunity to engage in person with a designer whose work spans architecture, systems thinking, and cultural leadership—reinforcing the college’s emphasis on experiential learning that connects theory, practice, and lived experience.

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