About AIADO

In AIADO, our studios have no boundaries: we are creative across disciplines and we are engaged with our community at SAIC, our context in Chicago, and the world. Our dedicated faculty teach from diverse experience in practices that impact public life and drive public culture. We value the craft that brings ideas into the world; the research that informs criticality, and the compelling stories we tell to share our work. Our students are exploring the future of how we live, work, and communicate; asking how design responds to shifting modes of belonging; and ensuring design will address the transcendent challenge of a changing climate.

Since its founding in 1866 design has been part of SAIC’s mission of creativity, experimentation, and free expression. AIADO embodies this commitment with undergraduate pathways in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Designed Objects; Master of Architecture, Master of Architecture with an Emphasis in Interior Architecture, and Master of Design in Designed Objects degrees; as well as a Master of Fine Arts in Studio. With access to the resources of our museum campus, studio arts and liberal arts programs, AIADO offers unique opportunities for students interested in the space where art and design come together.

Schools have a responsibility to model cultures of equity and inclusion. In AIADO, learning is a collaborative project between students and faculty, and we welcome diverse perspectives. Our studio culture foregrounds student practice and responds to student goals with critique that is considered and constructive. We reward risk-taking and understand that failure is part of the creative process.

AIADO students will define the future of design in a changing world, we expect them not only to respond to change, but to drive it. We teach the skills graduates need to enter design professions, the ambition to reimagine them, and the values to guide them as leaders. AIADO futures are design futures!