In 1992, in the year of the transformation of AIACE into KazLAACE, a new specialty was opened on the basis of the Faculty of Architecture on the initiative of Yuri Igorevich Bakhmutov – “Design of the architectural environment”. At the same time, the Department of “Design” was opened for the first time in Kazakhstan.
The department was greatly assisted by the Union of Designers of Kazakhstan headed by Timur Bimashevich Suleimenov and the Almaty Center for Contemporary Art and its director Valeria Ibraeva. Thanks to the enthusiasm and exceptional organizational qualities of the head Yuri Bakhmutov, a lot of work has been done to create a special design space within the walls of KazLAACE, which has become a home for many teachers and students. His comrades and like–minded people helped him in this – Alim Ravilevich Sabitov, Layla Rymbekovna Turganbayeva, Pavel Petrovich Savranchuk, Nelly Mikhailovna Uteeva. A new design concept of design education has emerged, which was special among many other universities of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which so far perceive and implement only its artistic aspects.