Focusing on progressive thinking and practice across all design disciplines, the Department of Architecture and Design features a collection of 250,000 objects grounded in works by Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Le Corbusier.

The department's diverse holdings also include works by contemporary architects such as Elizabeth Diller, Hernan Diaz Alonso, Lindy Roy, and MOS (Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample) and cutting-edge designers like Hella Jongerius, Konstantin Grcic, Stefan Sagmeister, and Joris Laarman.