The most recent season of ByDesign –a television series that explores design, featuring the designers who bring ideas to life– returns with its sights set on the architecture of the United States. America ByDesign: Architecture will feature six of the US’s most significant architectural accomplishments, competing toward a finale to determine the ultimate winning design. Past ByDesign seasons have focused on New York, California, and Australia—and now, the series will zoom in on the Windy City and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
Vice President for Campus Operations Tom Buechele led tours of the new SAIC Galleries and the recently renovated 280 Building. Buechele discusses how updates to the 280 Building have decreased the building’s energy costs by 40 percent, while still honoring the history of the building. Additionally, SAIC Galleries features energy-efficient lighting, a brand-new ventilation system, recycled carpet, and resurfaced flooring from the building’s original 106-year-old floor. Since 2020, the School’s campus has been carbon neutral.
SAIC is involved in this season in more ways than one: Professor Emeritus Linda Keane will also serve on the judges’ panel. Keane is the founding chair of the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects at SAIC and is also a co-founder of STUDIO 1032. Her own work focuses on ecology, imagination, and greening public spaces.
Going on its fifth year in production, ByDesign: Architecture’s mission is to find and celebrate architecture that innovates, surprises, or disrupts the status quo. Chicago is known as an architect’s city, and SAIC’s architecture program sits at the center of that legacy. Now, that history will be highlighted on television screens everywhere. Watch on Saturdays through March 4 on CBS.
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For more than 155 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating some of the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world. Adults, teens, and kids in the Continuing Studies classes have the opportunity to explore their creative sides, build portfolios, and advance their skills. Notable alumni and faculty include Georgia O’Keeffe, Nick Cave, David Sedaris, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Cynthia Rowley, Michelle Grabner, Richard Hunt, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Jeff Koons.