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Historic Preservation

Integrated Historic Preservation Certificate

Integrated Historic Preservation Certificate

The Integrated Historic Preservation (HPres) Certificate in Architecture/Interior Architecture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago allows candidates for the Master of Architecture and Interior Architecture to secure a certificate in Historic Preservation, based on the successful completion of five departmental courses, taken as electives in the MArch degree, and a design studio project approved by the Historic Preservation Director.

The certificate includes five courses, totaling 15-credit hours, along with an external practicum, that meets the minimum standards and guidelines promulgated by the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE), consistent with current standards for architectural education being reviewed nationwide by the American Institute of Architects' Historic Resources Committee.

Students bring their design training abilities to the service of preservation through studio projects that focus on the adaptive re-use, rehabilitation, or preservation of a historic structure or structures. In addition, students complete an internship in preservation at an architectural office or other agency. They may also enroll in a study trip.

Six Program Areas

  1. Preservation Documentation
  2. Materials Conservation
  3. Architectural History
  4. Preservation Planning
  5. Design Studio Focused on Preservation
  6. Preservation Practicum

Admissions Requirements

The Professional Certificate in Historic Preservation is available to students in the Master of Architecture (MArch) and MArch: Interior Architecture Track programs at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).

For admission to the certificate program, candidates:

  • Interview with SAIC's Historic Preservation program director
  • Submit a Statement of Purpose for review by faculty in the Historic Preservation program

Upon admission, the director and student draft and annually review a schedule for the completion of required courses and projects. The curricular components and the internship must be approved by the director of the Certificate program and by the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects program director.

Curriculum Requirements

The 15-credit Professional Certificate in Historic Preservation program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) offers students in the Master of Architecture and MArch: Interior Architecture Track a working knowledge of the field of historic preservation.  

  • TermCredit Hours
    First Year Fall15
    • AIA 6110 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 3 (6) 
      (Cert #5: Preservation Studio)
    • AIA 6112 Resilient Systems (3)
    • ARTHI 5102 A Global History of Architecture, 1750 - 1900 (3)
    • HPRES 5006 Preservation - Precedents, Histories and Contexts (3) 
      (Cert #3: Preservation History)
    		 
    First Year Spring15
    • AIA 6120 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 4 (6)
    • AIA 6123 Codes, Specs, Joints (3)
    • AIA 6221 Arch/InArch: Structures 2 (3)
    • HPRES 6008 Preservation Law (3) 
      (Cert #4: Preservation Planning)
    		 
    Second Year Fall15
    • AIA 6210 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 5 (6)
    • AIA 6212 Arch/Inarch: Choreographed Systems (3)
    • AIA 6213 Arch/Inarch: Thesis Strategies (3)
    • HPRES 5002 Archival Documentation (3) 
      (Cert #1: Preservation Documentation)
    		 
    Second Year Spring15
    • AIA 6220 Arch/InArch: Graduate Studio 6 - Thesis (6)
    • AIA 6015 Professional Contexts (3)
    • AIA 6222 Arch/InArch: Practice Economies (3)
    • HPRES 5012 Building Diagnostics (3) 
      (Cert #2: Material Conservation)
    		 
    Completion of 210 hours of a preservation-focused internship, study trip, or equivalent as approved by Historic Preservation Director and/or Program Director of Master of Architecture 
    (Cert #6: Internship)    		 
    Participation in four Graduate Critiques—Participation in Critique Week is mandatory for all four semesters. 
    Participation in HP + AIADO Graduate Exhibition 
    Total Credit Hours60

  • TermCredit Hours
    First Year Fall15
    • AIA 5110 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 1 (6) 
      (Cert #1: Preservation Documentation)
    • AIA 5002 Descriptive Techniques (3)
    • AIA 5123 Arch/InArch: Structures 1 (3)
    • AIA 5113 Construction Systems (3)
    		 
    First Year Spring15
    • AIA 5120 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 2 (6)
    • HPRES 5543 Historic Interiors (3)
    • Elective (3)
    • Elective (3)
    		 
    Second Year Fall15
    • AIA 6110 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 3 (6) 
      (Cert #5: Preservation Studio)
    • AIA 6112 Resilient Systems (3)
    • ARTHI 5102 A Global History of Architecture, 1750 - 1900 (3)
    • HPRES 5006 Preservation - Precedents, Histories and Contexts (3) 
      (Cert #3: Preservation History)
    		 
    Second Year Spring15
    • AIA 6120 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 4 (6)
    • AIA 6123 Codes, Specs, Joints (3)
    • AIA 6221 Arch/InArch: Structures 2 (3)
    • HPRES 6008 Preservation Law (3) 
      (Cert #4: Preservation Planning)
    		 
    Third Year Fall15
    • AIA 6210 Arch/InArch: Grad Studio 5 (6)
    • AIA 6212 Arch/InArch: Choreographed Systems (3)
    • AIA 6213 Arch/InArch: Thesis Strategies (3)
    • Elective (3)
    		 
    Third Year Spring15
    • AIA 6220 Arch/InArch: Graduate Studio 6 - Thesis (6)
    • AIA 6015 Professional Contexts (3)
    • AIA 6222 Arch/InArch: Practice Economies (3)
    • HPRES 5012 Building Diagnostics (3) 
      (Cert #2: Material Conservation)
    		 
    Completion of 210 hours of a preservation-focused internship, study trip, or equivalent as approved by Historic Preservation Director and/or Program Director of Master of Architecture 
    (Cert #6: Internship)    		 
    Participation in four Graduate Critiques—Participation in Critique Week is mandatory for all four semesters. 
    Participation in HP + AIADO Graduate Exhibition 
    Total Credit Hours90

Take the Next Step

For more information, please contact the Historic Preservation Chair Nicholas Lowe at nlowe1@saic.edu.