i. institutional support and commitment to continuous improvement

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects
Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture with emphasis in Interior Architecture
17th Annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair—where the students won the Editor’s Award
for their environmental installation; and being the sole North American school invited to exhibit at the
furniture fair SaloneSatellite in Milan, Italy. Since that time, the students of AIADO have undertaken
several additional GFRY funded projects—which are projects funded by a gift from the Motorola Fund
and discussed in greater detail in section I.1.5 Self-Assessment Procedures—including:
o 18% Grey
In 2007-08, 13 AIADO students explored light as a tangible and formable substance.
The project was ultimately displayed in Milan, Italy. Light is filtered through artifacts and
discrete constructions to produce zones of edited brightness and shadow. In 18% Grey,
illumination is used to transform and reveal the inherent beauty of everyday materials. A
number of designs were made in the two-semester project. Four—entitled “Impromptu,”
“Flex,” “Fizz” and “Line”—were selected for presentation at Fabbrica del Vapore
for Salone del Mobile by the Milanese design fabrication and distribution company
“Industreale”—a firm known for exploring the material qualities of ceramic, wood, glass
and metal.
o Zero Energy Urban Design and 200 Watt Living
These two projects galvanized 2008-09 GFRY Studio with 13 students—six Architecture
students and seven Designed Objects students. “Zero Energy Urban Design” examines
how to maximize the gathering of solar energy in a dense urban environment, through
the invention of a completely re-configured zoning envelope. “2000 Watt Living”
proposed to build working prototypes of appliances and building components that can
help reduce the average personal energy consumption in the developed world (12000
watts average) down to the average of the developing world (2000 watts average).
o Studio (Re)
In 2009, students worked in the GFRY Studio with architecture faculty from the
University of Tokyo and the community of Beppu, Japan. The studio studied the
phenomenon of shrinking cities and developed ways to reactivate unused urban space.
The work led to installations and workshops in Detroit, Chicago and Beppu
C) Architectural Education and Registration
The MArch degree program at SAIC, with its four tracks, is designed to prepare its graduates to serve
in the intern development program, and become licensed, practicing and professional architects. In
each track, the comprehensive architectural design classes deliver projects of increasing complexity
that are intended to result in student performance of increasing creativity and proficiency. A wide
skill set and an extremely creative approach to design have been the hallmark of SAIC’s graduates in
interior architecture for decades. The same hallmarks of creativity and skill are expected of its MArch
and MArch/IA graduates.
1) Professional Contact
One of the natural boons of an architecture program in Chicago—a cradle of ambitious and forward
thinking architecture for more than a century—is the diverse, active architecture and interior
architecture practices AIADO can draw on for guest critiques, lectures, professional counseling,
site visits and other types of student enrichment. A collegial atmosphere permeates the city’s
design professionals; therefore, interaction among students and local professionals is often done
on a pro bono, reciprocal basis. Additionally, AIADO keeps a line item in its budget for honoraria to
compensate short-term faculty assignments and special guests. The economic realities of licensed
practice, and the ethical responsibilities of a licensed architect, are never absent from the discussion
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