The Shape of Everyday Life: How Carnegie Mellon Revolutionized Industrial Design

<p>What if the objects around you weren&#39;t just built, but carefully designed to shape how you live? </p><p>In this episode, we trace the origins of industrial design from Pittsburgh&#39;s factory floors to the iconic products defining modern life — and explore how Carnegie Mellon University – and its faculty and alumni – have been at the center of it all.</p><p>In 1934, Carnegie Tech launched the first degree-granting program in industrial design in the United States — sparked by a student petition. That revolutionary curriculum, grounded in real manufacturing visits and human-centered thinking, would shape generations of designers and transform everyday objects from clunky contraptions into intuitive, beautiful tools.</p><p>We&#39;re joined by Rachel Delphia, curator at the Carnegie Museum of Art and CMU alum, who walks us through the program&#39;s beginnings, the remarkable legacy of silversmith-turned-designer and CMU professor Peter Muller-Munk, the story of Maude Bowers — the program&#39;s very first graduate — and the design thinking behind icons such as the revolutionary cordless Black &amp; Decker Dustbuster, also created by a CMU alum.</p><p>Then, CMU alum and founder of Bould Design, Fred Bould, joins to discuss how CMU&#39;s design philosophy shaped his work on the Nest Thermostat and dozens of other products ranging from the GoPro Camera to a wearable breast pump to a humane chicken coop. He also shares his vision for where AI and sustainability are taking the field over the next decade.</p><p>Good design, it turns out, doesn&#39;t just make things look better — it makes life work better for the consumer – and for humanity. </p><p>Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.  For more, info visit: <a href="http://cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast"><u>cmu.edu/whatsnextpodcast</u></a>.</p><p><strong>Explore more</strong></p><ul><li><p><a href="https://carnegieart.org/exhibition/silver-to-steel-the-modern-designs-of-peter-muller-munk/"><u>Silver to Steel: The Modern Designs of Peter Muller-Munk</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.bould.com/"><u>Bould Design</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/485316"><u>The Normandie Water Pitcher</u></a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://www.cmu.edu/whats-next-podcast/all-episodes/s3-episode-3-designing-planet-clever-thermostat-and-odorless-food"><u>The Nest Thermostat Origin Story - WWIBWN Episode #4</u></a></p></li></ul>