The historic preservation graduate program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) emphasizes saving old buildings important to a city or region’s cultural heritage. Students would learn how to restore old buildings to either their original condition or to a condition associated with a historically significant time.
What Is the Program Like?
The program offers course work in all four aspects of historic preservation: architectural history, preservation planning, design, and building conservation. It combines lectures and reading with fieldwork, so students gain practical experience. Similarly, the architectural history segment of the course includes field trips where the students would visit and examine old buildings in the city.
What Are the Facilities Like?
The Historic Preservation Department is fittingly housed in a building that was constructed in 1906. It was originally the Municipal Courts Building, and the Historic Preservation Department occupies part of the 15th and 16th floors. The 15th floor is home to a library, lecture hall, computer lab, and conservation lab, while the 16th floor has a skylit studio, lecture area, and faculty offices.
What Are Some of the Prerequisites?
Candidates need to have completed a four-year undergraduate program. They should also have earned three-semester credit hour courses in both Architectural History and Art History. Candidates should ideally also have some background in fields like architecture, archeology, interior design, landscape studies, or decorative arts.
Contact The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to learn more about the historic preservation graduate program.
